Adjustments
by Orimorium
Summary: Randomly thrown into the world of Elder Tale, one man and his friends will have to deal with new bodies, new challenges, and a new world. To survive, they're going to have to make some... adjustments -Rating subject to change-
1. A New World

**I don't own Log Horizon. This is just a fanfic. Please support its official release.**

"All right!" A young man said, closing the door to his room. "Homework's done, a long weekend's ahead, it's time to play some Elder Tale!"

Going to the start screen, he loaded the application. In his eagerness to play, he glossed over the title screen and the announcement that the tenth expansion had been released, and went straight for character selection. Clicking on the character name Wrottzen was the last thing the boy remembered before blacking out.

 _What happened?_ He thought as he regained consciousness. Looking around the room he saw plain wooden walls, a simple desk and bare furnishings, the exact opposite of the room he had been in before.

 _Where am I? And why does my body feel so weird?_ Wanting to investigate the surroundings, the gamer tried to get up off the bed, but found himself unable to do so.

 _Gah! It feels like someone put a huge dumbbell right on my chest!_ "Hello? Is anyone there?"

Almost on cue, a young man came through the door. "Thank goodness you're awake! We were starting to get worried Miss Adventurer."

"Miss? I think you're mistaken mister. I'm a guy through and through. Now could you please help me up?"

"Of course." With the help of the caretaker, the gamer sat up and noticed a strand of long red hair come across his view.

 _My hair was never this long._ _Wait! Long hair, Miss! Please don't let it be true._ Suddenly panicking he yelled, "Get me a mirror! Now!"

"Yes Ma'am." The caretaker said before scurrying out of the room. He returned a few moments later with a small handheld mirror.

Looking into the mirror, the gamer's fears were confirmed. Instead of seeing a full masculine face with beard stubble growing, he saw a slender feminine face with long red hair and piercing blue eyes. As he looked down under the covers, the rest fell into place. His body felt weird because it wasn't his own; He had trouble sitting up because of the mounds on his chest.

"Where am I?! Who did this to me?!" He now she yelled.

The caretaker stood there unfazed by the outburst. "No one did anything to you Miss. You were simply lying in the street before I took you back to my house here in Syr."

 _Syr… That name seems familiar. Now that I think about it, my face looked awfully familiar too._ "Hmmm"

"All this seems to be quite a shock to you. I'll leave you alone so that you can work through it. If you need me I'll be in the next room Miss Adventurer."

 _Again with the Miss. That's going to take some getting used to. Wait what did he say after Miss? Adventurer? Now I know I've heard that somewhere before…_

"Adventurer… Syr… Elder Tale!" Suddenly all of the pieces fell together. Adventurers were the name for players in the game Elder Tale. Syr was a medium sized city in the northern part of what would have been New York in the real world. And his face looked familiar because he was the one who designed its features, and spent hours looking at them from behind a computer screen.

"I've become Wrottzen." He said inspecting his newer smaller hands. "Focus. Can I still open the menu?" A few wipes of the hand eventually revealed the menu and all of Wrottzen's stats. She was a level 47 Half- Alv Guardian with the subclass of Alchemist.

"I guess these are my stats now. Wait the friend list is still here?! Is he on?" Wrottzen searched his list until he came across the name he was looking for: Bojohn. "Thank God he's on. Maybe he'll know what's happening."

Bojohn was the Wrottzen's best friend IRL and the one who introduced him to the world of Elder Tale. While Wrottzen was only level 47, Bojohn was a level 69 Swashbuckler, a powerful ally and one who knew far more about MMOs than Wrottzen.

Activating the telepathic link, Wrottzen said, "Hey Bojohn you there?"

"Dude is that you!" He replied, "I didn't think you'd be on!"

"I finished my work early. Kinda wishing I didn't do that. Any idea what's going on?"

"Nah man, I'm in the same boat as you. The only possibility people in the streets have been able to come up with is that it has something to do with the new expansion that just went live."

"A new expansion went live?"

"Yeah it was on the loading screen of the game." Bojohn replied, "It was one of the last things I can remember before ending up in game."

"I just woke up myself. I'm being cared for by a Person of the Land so I haven't been outside yet. How are people reacting?"

"Not good. People are panicking, yelling for GMs, even picking fights with one another and People of the Land."

"Where are you right now?"

"I'm at the edge of town, I was just getting set to test out my character before you called."

"Don't do that yet!" Wrottzen quickly responded. "We don't know the consequences of dying yet. What if this is like that anime SAO?"

"Which one was that again?" Bojohn replied sheepishly, "You've told me about so many they've all started to blur together."

"It's the one where the players of an MMO get trapped inside and are forced to fight their way out. Only a death in the game means death in real life."

"Oh crap! I don't want to die! I don't even have a girlfriend!"

"Exactly. At the very least wait for me before going out. I can tank for you and with two of us, the odds of survival will be much greater."

"If there's a possibility of dying IRL, shouldn't we not leave the city all together?"

"You had the right idea. We need to test out the capabilities of our new bodies. Eventually we will be placed into a fight and, at least for a while, being more comfortable with your body could be the difference between life and death."

"You always were the smart one. Where do you want to meet up?"

"Meet me by the Sphere in three hours. We'll set out from there."

"K man, I'll see you then!" Bojohn replied before ending the link.

With the transmission over, Wrottzen laid back down flat on the bed. _I'm glad to have at least one friend in this new world. Now how am I supposed to prepare my equipment!_

 **AN: Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Adjustments. This is my first Log Horizon fic and I might not be as familiar with the lore as I should be. Let me know if I made any errors in portraying the Elder Tale universe. Next time we'll meet Bojohn and set out into the great unknown.**


	2. Learning Curve

Walking down the street to the Sphere, Wrottzen thought to himself, _God that was tougher than it should've been._

In his three hours of preparation, the first was spent trying to figure a way out of the thin clothes the People of the Land had put him in, and into his armor without becoming overstimulated. After experiments with blindfolds and dark room, Wrottzen found the system assist in the menu and utilized that to put on his armor. The torso armor was composed of a thick black metal with an extra band of red painted metal to provide protection to her feminine chest. The lower half of the body was covered, in typical RPG fashion, in only a blackened metal skirt and chainmail leggings. In one hand was her sword and the other a large kite shield.

However, putting on the armor was only the first obstacle that had to be overcome. On his way out of the caretaker's house, the caretaker's wife entered and insisted on Wrottzen fixing her hair, which had become disheveled by the bed. Thus began an hour of boredom and hair brushing. Once that was finished, he began what should have been a 45 minute walk to the Sphere. That also didn't go as planned as the female body struck again. Due to his new higher center of gravity, Wrottzen would trip every few feet, turning the 45 minute walk into an hour and 15 minute one.

The Sphere was a PvP coliseum famous for hosting intense tournaments for people to both participate and spectate. However, since players had become trapped in the game, the Sphere had lost its fanfare and become a ghost town.

As the Sphere came into view, Wrottzen could already see Bojohn waiting at the designated spot. Bojohn was 19 years old and dressed like a pirate with black pants and a white collared shirt, topped off with a yellow handkerchief wrapped around his neck. His weapon of choice was a single rapier blade, which was gleaming in the sun beside him.

"Dude, is that you?" Bojohn asked, as Wrottzen finally came into view.

"What, no 'nice to see you'? All I get is a 'dude, is that you' while you ogle my boobs."

"OK, it's you. What took you so long?"

"It's this accursed female body." Wrottzen replied. "Sigh… nothing I've done today has been easy, not even walking here."

"Why did you even choose a female character to begin with?"

"Well first of all, I didn't think something like this was possible. Second of all, if I'm going to be staring at a computer screen for countless hours a day, I want to be looking at a pretty girl, not a dude."

"Fair enough. Are you ready to go?"

"Yup! Let's go!" Immediately after saying this Wrottzen tripped and fell once again.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Bojohn asked as he helped his friend off the ground.

"Yes I am. Even if I wasn't, I need to get used to this body ASAP and the best way I can see of doing that is throwing myself in the deep end, so to speak."

Settled on a course of action, the two left the city and traveled east to the Onadag badlands. They were quite a ways out of the city before either dared speak.

"It's quiet." Wrottzen began.

"Too quiet." Bojohn finished. "Get set for a mob ambush."

"Got it. Rabid Wolves at 12 o' clock!"

Rabid wolves were a lower tier mob, usually spawning at around level 25. In packs they could be dangerous to even high level players, but the three that had just appeared would be a perfect test of both players' new abilities.

Bojohn rushed forward, sword at the ready and began slashing away at the monsters. After doing a sufficient amount of damage he yelled "Can you pull aggro?"

"Sure, just get behind me!" Wrottzen replied, running to meet his comrade halfway. Once Bojohn was behind him, Wrottzen stopped moving and prepared for an assault from the wolves, only they completely ignored him and continued toward their aggressor.

"They're still after me. What happened?"

"You got too much damage off on them, I need to use a skill to draw them away."

"Well hurry up! I'm not exactly built for defense."

 _God this is cumbersome._ Wrottzen thought as he surfed the menu for his skills. _There has to be an easier way. This would never work in the heat of battle._ "Anchor Howl!"

A bright light suddenly shone off Wrottzen, attracting the wolves' attention. They stopped pursuing Bojohn and quickly ran back toward the Guardian.

"Hold them off a while. I want to try using a skill."

"No problem." Wrottzen replied as a wolf bounced off his shield. Taking a swipe at the second wolf with his sword, he didn't notice third circling behind him. When the third attacked, Wrotzen was hit with a debuff, infected, slowly lowering his Hp.

"Are you almost set? There doing a number on me here!"

"Here we go! Whirlwind Slash!" Bojohn once again joined the fray, this time with his sword leading the way. Swirling around the sword was a massive body of air, which ended up blowing the wolves away from his comrade. "Now I'll finish the rest with… Hey the screen closed!"

Two of the wolves had been destroyed by the powerful attack. The final adversary, eager to avenge his fallen comrade began to charge toward the two adventurers.

While Bojohn fumbled with his menu again, Wrottzen stepped up and blocked the straightforward attack. As the foe recoiled off the shield, Wrottzen swung his sword once across its torso, causing it to disintegrate like the others.

Slumping against his sword Wrottzen commented, "That was tiring, especially for level 25 monsters."

"Yeah we need a lot more practice before we try anything. Feeling any more comfortable with your body?"

"A bit." Truth be told, in the heat of battle, Wrottzen nearly forgot about the difference in his body. "It's starting to get dark, wanna head back?"

"Sounds good. Getting trapped in a game and learning its new rules is more draining than it sounds."

 _We still need to figure out an easier way to activate skills, but I guess that can wait until tomorrow._ Wrottzen thought as the infected debuff finally disappeared.

As the two walked back to town, the atmosphere slowly grew uneasy as the sun set.

"Is it just me or are you getting a bad vibe off this part of the woods?" Bojohn asked.

"I'm getting the same vibe you are. Hopefully it's just unease about being out this late in an unfamiliar place."

"I don't think that's it kid." Two adventurers stepped out of the woods to answer the question. One was a level 62 samurai. He brandished a large katana that was practically screaming for blood. The other was a level 59 enchanter. He was much smaller than his companion but possessed a staff with a blood red jewel, which was just as intimidating under the circumstances.

"Ohhhh. Look at what we have here Tachi." The enchanter said, "A pretty little guardian and a swashbuckler all alone in the woods."

"Perfect targets." The samurai, Tachi, replied.

"Who are you?" Bojohn asked, a hand on the hilt of his weapon.

"Us? We're no one special." The talkative enchanter replied, "We're just your ordinary, run of the mill PKers. Hey let's kill the swashbuckler first. Then we can have some fun with the girl."

Wrottzen shuddered before replying "Hate to break it to ya, but I'm a guy."

"Gah!" The enchanter jumped back after hearing the male voice, "No matter, we can kill you both. Tachi?"

"On it." Tachi then leapt into the air, bringing his katana down on Wrottzen's shield. While the shield did block the blow, the PKing samurai followed up with another series of slashes aimed at Wrottzen.

 _I'm taking quite a bit of damage here but I should be able to hold out a while against this guy._ "Bojohn!"

"Ready! Piercing Blow!"

While Wrottzen had been guarding, Bojohn had been surfing his menu to activate a skill. The attack hit, but didn't do nearly as much as it should have.

"What?! How?!"

"It's the enchanter Bojohn!" Wrottzen yelled. "He's casting buffs onto his buddy there to give him the advantage!"

"I'll take care of the enchanter. Keep samurai boy here busy!"

"That won't work." Tachi said, speaking on his own for the first time. "Taunt!" A couple swipes of the hand was all it took to activate the skill, forcing Bojohn to focus on him.

 _Crap. They were prepared for that strategy. He had Taunt at the ready._ "Bojohn start trying to hit him with debuffs and we'll double team him!"

Swashbucklers excelled in placing debuffs on the enemy but most of those were only placed after successfully using a skill. So while Wrottzen charged the samurai, Bojohn was left to scan his menu for an appropriate skill. When the two clashed swords again Wrottzen took a moment to look at her Hp gauge.

 _I'm already at 25%! How did that happen?_ Wrottzen thought. _The wolves! I must not have been fully healed before we ran into these guys._

"Bojohn! We need to finish this up fast! I'm running low on Hp!"

"I'm trying here! Aggressive Assault!"

Wrottzen's reinforcements came rushing in, sword glowing red with power but before even a single hit of the defense lowering combo landed, the rapier was knocked out of his hand.

"Haaaaa." Seeing his friend in trouble, Wrottzen once again charged into the fray, only to be caught off guard by his higher center of gravity and trip a few feet in front of the enemy samurai. "I thought I was over that..."

"Any last words?" Tachi asked, standing over a cowering Wrottzen with blade raised.

 _No... I can't die yet! I want to live! I want my old body back!_ "KYAAAA!" Much to the surprise of everyone present, Wrottzen unleashed a high pitched girly scream.

"What?!" Tachi paused for a second, shock rendering him unable to move.

"KYAAAA! Shield Swing!" Bringing his shield back, it suddenly began to glow with power and slammed into his assailant, catching him off guard and dealing massive damage.

"He... He activated a skill without the menu..." The enchanter said in disbelief.

"Hiya!" The enchanter was suddenly hit in the head with a staff combo and disintegrated.

"Who're you?" Bojohn asked, recovering his sword from the ground.

The newcomer was a girl a year younger than Bojohn and Wrottzen with short cut brown hair and wearing a light green shirt and pants. In her hands was a thin staff, ideal for defense. "A friend." She replied. "Heartbeat Healing!"

The Hp gauge which had been at 25% suddenly jumped up to 40% and slowly began to regenerate further.

"What's the matter tough guy? Don't want to fight now that the field is even?"

"How could I turn now a challenge from the person I had screaming like a little girl just a few moments ago?" Tachi replied before bringing his katana into a ready stance.

 _OK let's think this through. He's 15 levels above me and at 30% health. I'm at 45% and rising. I may be at higher health but my only shot is to activate those skills again._ "Aura Saber!"

Wrottzen charged at his adversary, saber glowing with power.

"Your friend tried that too. It didn't work then and it won't work now!"

"That's where you're wrong!" Rather than simply swinging the sword at the target like Bojohn did, Wrottzen twisted around, gathering momentum, and struck Tachi on the back swing, breaking his guard and knocking him to the ground. "What do you have to say now?"

"I was only doing what I thought was necessary to survive."

"Same here." Wrottzen replied before bringing down his shield for the finishing blow.

"Dude, that was awesome! How did you use those skills? I didn't even see you use the menu." Bojohn asked as he congratulated his friend.

"It seems to be a combination of voice and motion activation." He replied as a level up screen appeared before him. "Awesome a level up!"

As he began assigning stats, the mysterious woman who defeated the enchanter walked over. "Nice going girl! It's great to see another woman who knows how to handle themselves."

"You must've come late to the party." Bojohn said, knowing what was to come.

"Sorry Miss, but I'm a guy."

"Really?" The stranger replied cheekily. "The way you were screaming before I could've sworn you were a girl."

"Hey! I wasn't that bad!"

"Nah man, you were that bad." Bojohn replied nearly kneeling in laughter.

"Thanks for your help Miss." Wrottzen said, eager to change the subject. "My name's Wrottzen, what's yours?"

"The name's May. Nice to meet you." She said as a status window appeared next to her, revealing her to be a level 58 Human Druid.

 **AN: Hello Log Horizon fans! Happy Labor Day! Here we see some of the struggles Wrottzen has adjusting to a female body, the discovery of how to use skills, and (spoilers) complete our main crew.**

 **If you liked what you read, leave a review and spread the word. Other than that, I'll see you next time!**


	3. The First Night

As the three Adventurers walked back to town, Wrottzen and Bojohn began to converse with their savior.

"Not that I'm complaining but how did you find the battle back their?" Wrottzen asked.

"You guys weren't that far from the edge of town." The slightly shorter girl replied, "When I heard the fight going on, I decided to investigate. In fact I would've intervened sooner but I didn't know who the aggressors were until I saw you scream like that."

"See man? Screaming like a little girl saved your life." Bojohn said.

"Yeah. But not my dignity..."

The three continued in silence until they reached the town and passed by the cathedral.

"I wonder what the cathedral's going to be used for now that this is a death game." Bojohn said.

"Whoa, whoa whoa! Who ever said this was a death game now?" May responded suddenly very worried, "Who gave you that idea?"

"I did." Wrottzen said, "We have no idea if the rules of Elder Tale still apply now that we're in the game. I thought it would be best if we took the worst case scenario and took it as truth until other evidence presented itself."

"Evidence like that?" May said, pointing down the street to where the enchanter and the samurai were walking, slumped in defeat.

"Those… Those are the same guys who attacked us in the woods just now!" Bojohn said.

 _Thank God. I really didn't want a death on my conscious._ Wrottzen thought. "This is valuable information. If we know revival is possible after death, it gives us a little more wiggle room in the risks we take."

"It's getting late. We should probably try to find a room for the night." Bojohn said.

"Sounds like a plan." Wrottzen replied. "How about you? Do you have a place to go or do you need to find a room as well?"

"I'm looking for a room too." She responded. "It OK if I join you in your room hunt?"

"Of course! The more the merrier!" Bojohn replied, "Let's find ourselves a place to stay tonight!"

While easy in theory, finding a room was not an easy task for the three adventurers. All of the players now stuck in Elder Tale were also looking for rooms, and had a head start thanks to the skirmish with PKers in the forest.

Walking out of another inn, the three lamented about their luck. "How many was that?" Wrottzen asked.

"That was the fifteenth place that said they were full for the night." May said, equally as depressed.

"Come on guys! There's another inn just down there." Bojohn replied chipperly. "You know what they say, the sixteenth time's the charm."

"That's also what you said about the third through fifteenth times." Wrottzen replied, slightly annoyed by his comrade's upbeat attitude.

"I just want to draw a nice hot bath and crawl into bed." May added.

As the trio approached the inn, they noticed it was in poor condition. Paint was peeling from the exterior and the inn sign was hanging by only a single hinge.

"Maybe we skip this one." May said, disconcerted with the appearance of the establishment.

"Maybe you're right." Bojohn replied, his upbeat attitude cracking in front of the shady looking inn.

"Come on you two." Wrottzen said. "Beggars can't be choosers. Hello? We'd like three rooms for the night!"

"Ahh. Hello Adventurers!" An older man walked out to greet them. "Let me check what I have available. Hmm."

After a moment, May asked, "Hmm? What does Hmm mean?"

"I don't have the three rooms you requested-"

"Then we'll be on our way." Bojohn said, turning toward the door.

"But, I do have two rooms available if you could make do with that."

"We'll take them!" Wrottzen replied immediately.

"Here are the keys." The innkeeper said, pulling two keys from under his desk. "The rooms are just up the stairs to the left. I hope you enjoy your stay!"

The three adventurers went up to the rooms and realized another issue had to be settled: How to divide the rooms.

"Me and Bojohn can share a room May." Wrottzen said, "You take the other room."

"That won't work!" May replied.

"Why not?" Bojohn asked. "We're both guys."

"On the inside yes but physically you're male and Wrottzen is female. Who knows what kind of dirty things you two will do to that body."

"OK then, you and I will share a room and give the other to Bojohn."

"Th-That won't work either!"

"What's wrong this time?" Wrottzen asked.

"You may look female, but you're still a man on the inside, you said it yourself. A young man and woman sharing the same room is- it just shouldn't happen!" May replied, face now red.

"I don't think the innkeeper would appreciate one of us sleeping in the hall so you're going to have to pick your poison: Let Bojohn and I room together, or allow me to room with you. Unless you want Bojohn to spend the night with you."

May's face, which had been a lite red before, suddenly darkened to a beet red before she finally cried, "FINE! Wrottzen and I will share a room!" May then proceeded to grab, Wrottzen's hand, drag him inside the room and slam the door.

"What was that about? I thought you were going to take the room by yourself." Wrottzen asked.

"This is for the best." May replied. "This way I can keep an eye on you and make sure you don't do anything _weird_ with that body of yours."

"You're right." Wrottzen replied, "I had some questions I wanted to ask you anyways."

"Great!" May responded, starting to calm down from the previous conversation, "What do you need to know?"

"My most pressing question is…" Wrottzen began, the end of his sentence incomprehensible due to mumbling.

"I'm sorry. What was that?"

"How… do I use the bathroom?"

"Hehehehehe." May chuckled, before breaking out into full blown laughter.

"What's so funny? I'm being serious here!" Wrottzen cried, beginning to rock back and forth like a little kid.

"It's just- Hehe. It's just too funny!" May replied between chuckles. "Here I thought you two were going to do all of these perverted things but you don't even know how to use the bathroom!"

"Grrrr." Wrottzen growled face now a bright red. "Are you going to help me or not?!"

"I will. I will. Don't get your panties in a bunch. Heh, that turn of phrase was made for this situation."

"Come on!" Wrottzen cried, "I'm pretty sure this is the only pair of underwear in my inventory."

"OK. First you…" May whispered the rest into her new friend's ear.

"Thank you!" He cried before running to the bathroom, system assist already removing the skirt.

Once the door was shut, May yelled, "Hey I'm going to get changed, so don't come out until I say so, OK?"

"OK." Came the content reply from the bathroom.

"I'm being serious here!" May said as she began to take off her shirt, "You better not come-"

"Guys, I got it!" Bojohn said as he burst through the door, "Appearance… Changing… Potion…"

His words trailed off as he noticed the half-naked Druid in front of him. There was a long awkward pause in which May's face changed from one of surprise to one of anger and embarrassment. When she finally reached her breaking point May yelled, "PERVERT!" and punched Bojohn squarely in the face, knocking him into the wall.

It was a few minutes before things calmed down again. When they did, May was sitting on one bed wearing an oversized nightshirt glaring down at Bojohn, who was kneeling on the floor with a large lump showing on the top of his head. Wrottzen was sitting on the other bed in the room, wearing the same thin blue clothes she had worn when waking up in Elder Tale.

"So what's so important that you had to cause that commotion?" Wrottzen asked.

"OK. First let me start off by saying I'm sorry." Bojohn said, looking over at May who simply turned her head in response. "I was talking with some of my contacts in the underworld-"

"Underworld?" May asked, "Are you guys criminals or something?"

"Ah! You must not have noticed Bojohn's subclass." Wrottzen replied,

Turning toward the swashbuckler, May carefully looked at the information screen that presented itself, "You're a… hitman?!"

"Only in game I swear." Bojohn replied, "Anyway I was talking with some of my contacts and they mentioned something that might help Wrottzen out of his predicament: Appearance Changing Potion."

"How is changing my appearance going to help me?" Wrottzen asked. "No offense but I'm going to be stuck in a female body, I rather like the one I'm in now."

"No, that's not it." Bojohn replied, "Not only can the Appearance Changing Potion change how you look, it can also change your gender."

"Meaning…" Wrottzen trailed off realizing the full scope of his friend's news.

"You can go back to being a guy!"

"Yes! That is GREAT!" He replied, jumping for joy. He went around hugging everyone in the room before saying, "Let's go pick some up right now!"

"There's a slight problem."

"What?" Wrottzen asked, the good mood from before vanishing.

"The Appearance Changing Potion was an event item from quite a while ago." Bojohn explained. "They were super rare to begin with and are probably even rarer now that everyone's stuck in game. An item that rare isn't going to be found here in Syr, not even at the most exclusive shops in town."

"Then where?" Wrottzen asked,

"We need a bigger city with a larger underworld." Bojohn replied. "We need to go down to-"

"You'll need to travel to Gotham." May cut in, seeing where the hitman was going.

"Exactly and even then, finding and purchasing the Potion aren't a sure thing."

"That's fine." Wrottzen replied. "I'll take some hope over no hope any day. We'll use the teleport gate tomorrow, go down to Gotham and hopefully I should be 100% man again by the end of the week."

"I hate to throw another hitch into your plan, but the teleport gates are down."

"What?!" Both Wrottzen and Bojohn replied in tandem.

"Yeah, a bunch of people were in the town square today trying to teleport to some of the larger cities on the server. I think they wanted information, just like you guys. Anyways, they tried activating the gate and it wouldn't work." May explained. "You're gonna have to hoof it."

"But Gotham's a month's walk from here with dangerous high level monsters nearly the entire way!" Wrottzen complained.

"We could buy horses." Bojohn suggested,

"Even on horseback, the trip to Gotham would still take a couple of weeks."

"Going on horseback is faster than sitting here and complaining about how long the trip is…" May muttered, silencing Wrottzen in an instant.

"We'll go to the shops tomorrow to make all of the preparations for the trip." Bojohn said as he stood up from the floor. "For now, get a good night's rest. We can worry about the rest of the details in the morning. Night!"

"Night!" May and Wrottzen replied as Bojohn left the room. Soon afterwards, the two weary adventurers turned off their lights and laid down to sleep.

"Hey, Wrottzen? Are you still up?" May asked, breaking the silence in the dark room.

"Yeah I'm still up." Wrottzen replied.

"Do you think there's any possibility of this being one elaborate dream?" She asked. "Do you think we're going to wake up tomorrow in our own beds, in our own bodies, like none of today actually happened?"

"I truly wish I could answer yes to that question." Wrottzen replied.

With that the two girls fell asleep, ending their day. A day which would soon be known as the Apocalypse.

 **AN: Hello everyone! I've seen so much support for this series and I just want to say thank you with this new chapter. Your support means a lot. Feel free to leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter.**

 **There is one more thing I'd like to discuss before leaving you all today. I'm trying hard to keep this fic T rated and I feel like that's a thin line to be walking with some of this subject matter (Boy trapped in girl's body). If at anytime you feel as though I crossed the line into the M rating, please let me know. It would be much appreciated. Until next time!**


	4. Preparation

Wrottzen woke up the next morning disoriented until he remembered the events of the previous day.

 _I guess it wasn't a dream after all._ "Morning."

"Oh, hey you're up!" May replied. She was sitting on the other bed already dressed and prepared for the day. "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine. How are you already dressed?"

"I'm an early riser and unlike other people have been a girl my entire life."

"Give me a second to get changed and then let's get something to eat." Wrottzen said, pulling up his menu. "In all the confusion, I didn't eat a single thing yesterday."

"I didn't eat anything yesterday either." May admitted. "But before you start I've been thinking. Today you should start getting changed normally."

"Without the system assist?!" Wrottzen exclaimed.

"Yeah. It's just like you said yesterday: You need to take the worst case scenario and take it as the truth until other evidence presents itself."

"What's the worst case scenario in this case?" Wrottzen asked, having not given much thought to this himself.

"Well what if you get down to Gotham and can't find an Appearance Changing Potion?"

"We will find one." Wrottzen replied almost immediately.

"It's just a what if. Consider this more likely scenario: What if the system assist system stops working?"

"Stops… working." Wrottzen repeated blankly.

"Exactly. With all the other crazy stuff going on, it isn't much of a stretch to think the system assist might go out." May explained. "Then you'd have to do it yourself."

After considering May's words for a moment Wrottzen conceded, "You might be right but it might be too much stimulation for me. Any ideas on how to get around that?"

"Take things one step at a time. The system assist is still there, so maybe try putting on one piece by yourself each day until you feel comfortable and then increase it to two pieces and so on."

"OK, so what should I try putting on first?" Wrottzen asked.

"Obviously your undergarments." May replied.

Pulling the garments out of his inventory, Wrottzen began preparing himself for the task at hand. Just as he was about to start, May asked, "Hey, isn't that the same pair you were wearing yesterday?"

"Yeah. This is the only bra and only pair of panties I have in my inventory. Why?"

"That's crazy! Next you'll be telling me you don't have any other clothes besides your armor and those pajamas."

Wrottzen ignored May's comment and went about putting on the female undergarments. Unfortunately, May took his silence as an answer.

"You don't do you? We'll have to remedy that."

"No we don't." Wrottzen replied. "I have my armor and that's enough."

"I beg to differ. What if you have to go to the beach and swim to an island? That armor isn't going to float. And what if you're in the desert? You'll be baked alive in that thing."

"Sure, whatever. Can I have a little help here?"

May walked over and helped him fasten the back of the bra. "See? Was that so bad?"

"Yes! Your talking about my clothes was excruciating to listen to."

"It distracted you from your body didn't it?"

"I guess." Wrottzen admitted, putting on the remainder of the armor with the system assist.

"Then it worked!" May said cheerfully, "Now let's go eat!"

The two girls collected Bojohn, checked out of the inn and found a good place to sit and eat.

"OK guys. How about eggs?" Bojohn asked.

"Sounds good. Just hurry up and make it already, I'm starving!" Wrottzen replied.

Utilizing the system assist, Bojohn pulled the eggs from his inventory and gave one to both Wrottzen and May.

"Let's eat!" The three declared and bit into their food at the same time. The excited expressions on their faces soon turned sour.

"I think those eggs might've gone bad." May said.

"All I can taste is wet paper." Wrottzen said.

"OK. It's a little inappropriate for breakfast but here's a couple of hamburgers for ya!" Bojohn said, pulling three burgers out of his inventory. As the three bit into the food, they yielded the same result.

"Maybe it's your food." Wrottzen said, pulling a sandwich from his inventory. He took bite and declared "Nope. It's not just your inventory. What about you May? Does your food taste like this?"

"I don't know." She replied and pulled some things from her inventory. "I don't splurge much on food so all I have are a couple of apples and oranges."

"Those'll do." Bojohn replied, picking up an apple. "Well here goes nothing." He bit into the apple and paused.

"Well?" Wrottzen asked.

The remainder of the apple was gone in a matter of seconds. "I've never been so glad to eat an apple in my life."

"You mean it has taste?" May asked.

"Yeah! Try some yourself."

A single bite was all it took for May to exclaim, "It's delicious!"

Hesitantly taking a bite himself, Wrottzen found the apple did in fact taste like an apple.

While the three adventurers feasted on fruit, Bojohn asked, "I wonder why May's food wasn't effected."

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that all of these fruits are considered ingredients by the game, while ours were meals." Wrottzen said, looking through his inventory. He pulled out a peach and tossed it to Bojohn. "Here's a fruit from my inventory. Try it."

Bojohn looked hesitant at first but soon took a bite, "You're right dude! This tastes like a peach!"

"So that is it." Wrottzen said, taking the final slice of orange from the platter. "That still leaves us with the question of why do ingredients retain their flavor and not meals."

"We can worry about that another time." May said. "This is a huge step in itself finding out what foods do and don't have taste. The rest can be figured out later."

Finishing the fruit platter, the three rose and prepared for the day ahead.

"Well it was nice meeting you May." Wrottzen said extending his hand.

"Oh no. I'm not through with you yet!" May replied ignoring the outstretched hand. "We're going shopping!"

"Oh you're coming with me and Bojohn to the market?"

"Not supply shopping, clothes shopping!" May said, "I haven't forgotten about our conversation this morning."

"No! Don't send me clothes shopping!" Wrottzen pleaded, "Bojohn back me up here."

"She might have a point. I mean a lot of things could happen on the way to Gotham. And if you're going to buy women's clothes, I'd be handy to have a woman around."

 _You traitor._ Wrottzen thought.

"OK then it's settled." May said, grabbing Wrottzen by the hand. "Bojohn will do the supply shopping, while I help you buy some clothes. We'll meet up here again later."

As May pulled him away, Wrottzen mouthed the words 'Help me' to Bojohn, who only laughed to himself and walked in the other direction.

After 10 minutes of walking, Wrottzen finally built up the courage to ask, "Where are we going?"

"Here." May said, pulling her friend another couple of feet.

The storefront read 'Girl's Exclusive' in a fancy pink logo. _I can already tell this is going to be fun._ Wrottzen thought sarcastically.

Not willing to put up a fight, he allowed May to drag him into the store which was filled to the brim with racks upon racks of frilly, girly clothes.

"Let's get you started with some undergarments." May said, pulling Wrottzen to the appropriate section of the store. Choosing a few styles, she handed them to Wrottzen and said, "Go try these on."

Sighing, Wrottzen took the clothes and went behind the designated curtain.

"Well?"

"They don't fit."

"What do you mean they don't fit?" May asked.

"I'm saying the top is too tight and the underwear rides up too far."

"That can't be right. I gave you… my size." May trailed off, staring at her chest with a frown. Walking away silently she returned a moment later with bigger sizes and handed them into the curtain without a word.

"Hey these fit much better!" Wrottzen said, unknowingly striking at May's pride again. "But do they have anything less girly?"

"They're undergarments for women." May said flatly. "They're supposed to be girly."

"I know, I'm just asking. Can look for the least girly pair there is?"

Suddenly in the mood for revenge, May returned with the most risqué set the store had in stock: a black semi-transparent bra and matching panties.

"Are you sure this is the manliest set they had?" Wrottzen asked.

"Oh yes. You'd have to be a real girly girl not to like this set." May replied truthfully.

"Then we will purchase these and the other sets." He declared stepping out from behind the curtain. "Are we done here?"

"Are you kidding? We haven't even scratched the surface we have…"

"Oh God." Wrottzen thought as May rattled off a list of things he apparently _needed_. It wasn't until the end of the day that the two got around of supply shopping.

"That was so much fun!" May said, as Wrottzen stopped at an odd looking store. "What'ca getting here?"

"Transmutation circles."

"I didn't know they had alchemy in this game."

"Not a lot of people choose to be alchemists." Wrottzen admitted. "Most people want something that will help them out in combat."

"Since you're obviously an alchemist, what can they do?" May asked, genuinely curious.

"As long as I have the raw materials for something, I can use a transmutation circle to transform it into a finished product."

"That sounds like an overpowered ability. So if I gave you a hunk of iron and the proper transmutation circle, you could make a sword?"

"No. You'd still need a blacksmith for that." Wrottzen admitted. "You also still need a pharmacist to create powerful healing potions and such."

"If you can't do that, then what can you do?"

"Well I can create weaker healing potions, and a couple of poisons. But I mostly use my subclass to increase the quality of weapons."

"You can do that?"

"Yeah, but it takes a lot of low quality weapons to transmute a single high level one. Take a look at my sword." Wrottzen pulled out his sword and handed it to May, "This sword is an ordinary drop from the Onadag Badland. Using transmutation, I was able to take a bunch of these swords and combine them into that one."

"That's actually pretty useful."

"The only thing is, I can't write my own transmutation circles. I have to buy them off scribes. What about you? What's your subclass?"

"I'm a Dancer. I can't do the fancy things you can but I get an Attack and Agility bonus to my stats."

After stocking up on supplies and food, Wrottzen and May went back to the designated area where Bojohn was already waiting.

"Hey guys! How'd shopping go?"

"Great!"

"Terrible."

The differing opinions met only with a slight chuckle from the swashbuckler.

"So did you get the horses?" Wrottzen asked.

"Yup! I got two horses, a map and stocked up on healing potions for the trip. We should be ready to leave at dawn."

"Great!" Wrottzen replied and turned to May, "Thanks for all your help today. I honestly wouldn't've been able to make heads or tails out of that store today."

"Comes with the territory." May said, "I've had a blast with you guys. Thanks for letting me hang with you."

"It was our pleasure." Bojohn replied. "Come on Wrottzen! We should probably get a good night's rest tonight if we're going to be traveling tomorrow."

"K. Thanks again!" Wrottzen said before walking off with his best friend.

May waved for a few moments before coming to some realization and running off toward the market.

 _It starts tomorrow._ Wrottzen thought. _The quest to get my body back!_

The next day, Bojohn and Wrottzen awoke at the crack of dawn and went to the edge of the Onadag Badlands. Summoning their horses, Bojohn asked, "Ready?"

"I'm ready. Let's-"

"Wait!" Rushing down the road to meet them was none other than May, riding a horse of her own. "I'm coming with you!"

"You're leaving Syr too? Why?" Bojohn asked.

"I don't know anyone here. Heck, I don't really know anyone from IRL that plays Elder Tale, so I thought I'd tag along with you guys!"

"What makes you think we'll let you?" Wrottzen replied. "You could just be a burden on us in the future."

"I won't be a burden. In fact you need me." May replied. "You've seen how I can handle myself with those PKers on the first day and a healer would be a wonderful complement to your party."

"She has a point." Bojohn admitted.

"Times, you still need me to help you with that body of yours. If this game throws anymore curveballs at you in the body department, wouldn't it be handy to have a girl around?"

"I guess you're right."

"Then it's settled!" Bojohn declared, sending May a party invite. "Welcome to the team May!"

"Thanks!"

"Now that that's settled, let's get my body back!" Wrottzen exclaimed, spurring the trio off into the badlands.

 **AN: Not much progress this chapter besides learning a little about food, subclasses and Wrottzen adjusting further to his new body. I hope you enjoyed! Until next time**


	5. En Transit

"Wrottzen! Pull Aggro!" Bojohn yelled.

"No problem. May! Could you heal me a bit?"

"Heartbeat Healing!"

The trio of adventurers worked in perfect harmony against the high level Mountain Ogre. Deciding that the direct route to Gotham was too high level for them to handle, Bojohn made the executive decision to travel due east to the city of Hudson before traveling due south to their final destination.

Although Wrottzen grumbled at first about being stuck in his body for even longer, he eventually came to realize it was the best plan. In Elder Tale, monster levels increased as you traveled away from a town and decreased as you grew closer to another, with the exception of NPC villages. Taking the longer route decreased the amount of high level territory that needed to be covered and hedged the group's bets against dying. Even though they could be revived, an adventurer was always revived in the cathedral of the last town he left. This meant that any one death would most likely set the expedition back days.

"Quick Step!" Bojohn yelled, striking a final blow at the beast before it burst into particles.

While this new route was easier to traverse, it was also great for grinding levels. Wrottzen had grown another 3 levels to Lv 51, while May and Bojohn had both grown another level themselves, putting them at levels 59 and 70 respectively.

"Nice job man!" Wrottzen said, "We're gaining a lot of experience from this."

"That may be true but how are our supplies looking?" May asked.

"Not so good considering we're only a few days out from Syr. We've already used up half of our healing items and we still have another week of travel before we reach Hudson."

"Can't you whip up some healing potions with alchemy Wrottzen?"

"I can but those potions don't do nearly enough in the heat of battle. We'll either need to quicken our pace or stop for supplies soon."

"Quickening the pace is out of the question." Bojohn said, "This territory is too high level. We have to go through here slowly to avoid aggro."

"Not to mention an errant shot from any of these monsters could probably one-shot us on horseback." May added.

"It's settled then! We're stopping for supplies! Bojohn, where is the nearest town?"

Pulling out the map, Bojohn replied, "The nearest player town is… Hudson."

"Really?!" May cried in disbelief.

"Yeah, unless you want to back track a few days to Syr and start over from the beginning."

"No we need to keep moving forward. We'll start conserving our high level potions for high level battles. Between fights we'll use the potions I transmute. It might take a toll on my MP after a while but it's our best option."

"I agree with conserving our potions but are there any villages nearby, where People of the Land might live?" May asked.

"There's one a couple days out from here. Nice thinking May!" Bojohn said after consulting the map. "We can stop there and resupply our food and potions!"

"Sounds good! Let's get going then." Wrottzen said, spurring his comrades onward once again.

Traveling by foot greatly decreased the amount of ground they covered. While the trio encountered very few monsters along the way, it took them two days to even get close to the village.

"How much farther?" May asked wearily.

"Another half a day I'd say." Bojohn replied, "Once we make it through this valley, the village should be on the other side of the forest.

"Great. I really need a bath. A week out in the wilderness isn't good for a woman's constitution you know."

"For once I can empathize with you." Wrottzen added, "I have dirt places I didn't even know existed."

"See? I bet you're glad I took you clothes shopping now. At least you have clean undergarments each day."

"Yeah. I'll admit its felt good to change at least those every day."

Bojohn began to fidget nervously after hearing the girls talk. "Keep on your guard. There might be monsters up ahead."

"Looky here Wrottzen." May began, "Looks like the big bad swashbuckler is uncomfortable with us talking about panties."

"I am not!" Bojohn replied, face turning red.

"Wow, you're right!" Wrottzen said, continuing to tease his friend. "You know, if you run out of clean underwear, I can always lend you some of mine."

"Quit it!" Bojohn quickly replied, face turning even redder as he ran in front of the group. "Now focus! I really think there's monsters waiting to ambush us."

"Stop trying to change the subject! I have a pink pair that would be-"

Suddenly, a large monster jumped in front of the group brandishing a large club. A giant compared to the trio of adventurers, his long unkempt hair and scraggly beard were enough to make the three quiver in fear.

"Wh-What is that?" May asked.

"It's a field boss!" Bojohn replied. "Its status screen says he's Timitt the Valley Lord, Level 75."

"Field bosses usually require a full party of people around an equal level to defeat it. We have to sneak past it somehow." Wrottzen declared.

"A monster that powerful won't attack us as long as we don't attack it." Bojohn said. "Let's just walk past him and continue on our way."

As the three walked past, May developed a tickle in her nose.

"Ah… Ah…"

"Don't you dare sneeze!" Wrottzen whispered. "The loud noise will register as aggression toward the boss."

"I'll… try." May responded, holding in the sneeze.

"Just a few more feet and I think we'll be home free." Bojohn said.

"Ahhh. Hey guys, I think my sneeze has- Achoo!"

Like a dog responding to a whistle, Timitt quickly turned his head toward the source of the noise and began to charge.

"Run for it!" Wrottzen yelled.

The trio abandoned any sense of caution and began sprinting away from the giant racing toward them. After about 15 minutes of hard running, Timitt abandoned the chase and turned away but other monsters had been aggroed on their way.

"Guys, we have 3 Skeletal Warriors and 2 Carrion Hawks to deal with." Bojohn said.

"You just had to sneeze didn't you?" Wrottzen said, pulling out his sword.

"I couldn't help it. Forest's Blessing!"

"Thanks for the defense increase. Let's go! Anchor Howl!"

All five enemies rushed at the Guardian who began to take hit after hit on her shield.

"May, you take the Carrion Hawks! I'll take the Skeletal Warriors!"

"Sounds good Bojohn!"

All five of the undead monsters retreated when they saw Bojohn and May charge into the fray. The Warriors retreated backwards while the Hawks turned skyward.

"Oh no you don't!" May cried as she pursued the Hawks. Jumping from tree to tree, she managed to get above the flying creatures before hitting each of them to the ground. Once on the ground, the hawks were an easy target for Wrottzen who sunk his sword into both monsters for the final blow.

"Good work." Wrottzen said as May returned to the ground and cast a healing spell.

"Thanks. The Dancer subclass comes in really handy for times like that."

"Guys! A little help over here?" Bojohn called. While his initial appearance on the battlefield had intimidated the Undead Warriors, Bojohn no found himself taking heavy damage from his adversaries, who were taking turns on the offensive.

"Shield Swing!"

"Double Hit!"

Both Wrottzen and May charged in with skills already activated to help their teammate. Wrottzen's Shield Swing threw two of the skeletons away while May dealt heavy damage to the third with a two hit combo from her Bo staff.

"Can you hold them off a while?" May asked, running to Bojohn. "I'll need some time to bring Bojohn's health back to an acceptable level."

Glancing at his health bar and finding it to be at 50%, Wrottzen replied, "I can hold them off for a minute, maybe two. Will that be enough?"

"It'll have to be. Heartbeat Healing!"

As May began to heal Bojohn, Wrottzen ran across the battlefield before yelling, "Anchor Howl!"

After hearing the skill, the three warriors abruptly turned and began to give chase across the small clearing.

 _This should be far enough._ Wrottzen thought. "Heavy Anchor Stance!" Turning, he waited for the monsters to attack.

Heavy Anchor Stance was a Guardian skill that increased one's defense but drastically lowered speed. Once this skill is active, escaping becomes nearly impossible.

Still under the effects of Anchor Howl, the Skeletal Warriors eventually reached the Guardian's position and began to batter the shield with their swords. Even though he took the occasional swing at the enemies, Wrottzen's health soon began to waver.

"Is he almost set back there?" Wrottzen asked as his health dropped below 15%. "I can't hold these guys off any longer!"

"He's as good as I can get him." May declared. "All my healing spells are on cooldown."

"This'll be plenty." Bojohn said as he unsheathed his sword. "It's time for some payback. Whirlwind Slash!"

Faster than either Wrottzen or May could follow, Bojohn was across the battlefield knocking the undead warriors away from Wrottzen.

As he admired the rush of air going past him, Wrottzen looked down and picked up a small healing potion. _When did he have time to drop this?_

Pouring on even more speed, Bojohn pursued the enemies further and yelled, "Viper's Thrash!" Although it hit only one enemy, the attack defeated him on contact. Eyeing the last two wearily, he said, "You're done. Blade Opera!"

Moving to an invisible beat, Bojohn began to move swiftly around his foes, viciously slashing them each time they tried to escape from the corner that Bojohn was creating.

Once his skill ended, Bojohn walked over to his two comrades and asked, "Are you guys OK?"

"Yeah but I don't think they're dead yet." May said, pointing to the motionless skeletons.

"Nah, they're dead." Bojohn replied, putting his sword away. As soon as the sword was fully within the scabbard, the remaining Skeletal Warriors collapsed and disintegrated. "What's everyone's status?"

"I'm at 60% health but I'm nearly out of MP." May replied.

"I'm a little under 25% health and my MP's pretty tapped out."

"OK. Well I'm at 55% health thanks to May but I'm also almost out of MP."

"Well maybe you shouldn't have used all those skills." Wrottzen said.

"I'm sorry dude. You were in trouble and those guys triple teamed me earlier." Bojohn explained. "I was running a little hot under the collar."

"It all worked out. Don't worry about it." May replied. "Those were some high level monsters. Anybody level up?"

"Hey yeah! I'm level 71 now!"

"Awesome level 52!"

"I thought you guys might have." May said. "I'm an even level 60."

"Great now let's keep moving." Bojohn said, leading the way through the forest. "We don't want to attract any more monsters."

Not a moment later, he stepped out of the forest and was face to face with a semi-circle of sharpened spears each being held by a Person of the Land.

"I don't think its monsters we need to worry about." Wrottzen replied.

 **AN: Hey there everyone! This one's a more action based chapter, hopefully its up to par. I was going to go further but this seemed like the perfect stopping point. Next time we'll explore the People of the Land and why they're being so hostile to our crew.**

 **I'm been debating so I'm going to leave it up to you guys. Is three a good number for our main crew or should another(1) character be added? Leave a review with your thoughts.**


	6. Quest

"Why are you holding us at spear point!" Wrottzen cried as they were escorted to the village elder. "Its not exactly the best way to treat your guests!"

"Word travels quickly." One of the captors said. "We've received word that Adventurers had gone mad and begun attacking People of the Land. We won't allow ourselves to be fooled."

Arriving at a large house in the center of town, the trio of adventurers was gestured inside.

"Elder. We captured these Adventurers who came to our village."

"Very good. Very good." The Elder replied slouched in his chair. "Confiscate their weapons and armor."

"That's going too far!" May cried. "You can't expect us to just give up our weapons!"

"If you mean us no harm, then they will be returned to you." The Elder replied. "Now hand the guard your weapons and he will escort you ladies to a private place to remove your armor."

"Why our armor too?" Wrottzen cried, handing his sword and shield over to the guard, "Aren't the weapons enough?"

"Your armor gives you an unfair physical advantage on us. If we left you with armor, you could have eventually fought your way out even without swords and staffs. Once you have been disarmed, we will discuss your presence in our village."

"This way." The guard gestured, leading May and Wrottzen to a small room. "You will change here. Once you are finished, please hand your clothing to me."

"I don't suppose there's another room I can change in?" Wrottzen asked.

"You are both women and this is a perfectly spacious room. Now change!" May and Wrottzen were shoved in the door and stood there in silence as the guard slammed the door shut.

"This definitely isn't awkward." Wrottzen said flatly.

"We have to suck it up and do it." May replied. "You better not peek."

"I won't! I won't! In fact I have to wait for you to get dressed myself."

"Why is that?"

"You got me all these clothes, but I have no idea what's what in my inventory. I don't want to look like an idiot."

"I'm pretty sure you could wear anything and that village elder wouldn't even notice." May said as she finished getting dressed. Out of her lite green shirt and pants, May was now clad in a tight fitting V-neck and a pair of Daisy Dukes. "Now let's get you set!" Rustling through her comrade's menu, May eventually stopped and pointed at two items. "Put these on."

"OK. I'll take your word- HEY!" Wrottzen's clothes materialized to be a black shirt with a large pink heart on the chest, matched with a short skirt of the same design. "Why these?"

"You haven't been a girl long enough to notice, but men are easily distracted by a cute girl." May explained. "Wearing something revealing like that might give us the extra couple of seconds we need if things turn hostile. And seeing you uncomfortable is just an added bonus."

"You better not be lying about this." He grumbled in response.

"I'm not. Watch."

As the two women stepped out of the room, the guard did a double take of their attire.

"See?" May whispered. "Here's our armor sir. I do hope you'll give them back to us." She finished off the statement with a cute pout, making the guard blush.

"W-Well as long as you didn't come here looking for trouble. I'm sure you'll have them back within the hour."

"Thanks that's super nice of you!" May said, "We'll be heading back to the elder's room now."

"O-Ok. Maybe I'll see you later?"

"Of course. I'll see you then." May winked at the guard before leading Wrottzen down the hallway to the elder's room.

"That was incredible! That guard was like putty in your hand!"

"You could do that too if you wanted. Heck, with your body, flirting would probably be even easier for you."

"I'll leave that to you. It looks far too embarrassing for me."

"Once you see how easy it is, it'll become addicting."

"I have my own problems to deal with." Wrottzen said, as they arrived at their destination, "Like how do you girls deal with these short skirts? I feel like the slightest breeze will reveal my underwear to the entire world."

"You'll learn to ignore it." May said, "Hey Bojohn!"

Bojohn had already returned to the chamber wearing a plain brown shirt and pants, starter gear for the swashbuckler.

"Hey May!" He replied before turning to Wrottzen, "Hey- Wow!"

"I'll take that as a compliment… I think. Now let's get down to business. What do you want to discuss Elder? We're kind of on a schedule here."

"You need to learn patience young lady." The Elder replied. "Why have you three come to our village?"

"We are simply passing through on the way to Hudson." Bojohn replied. "We were hoping to stock up on supplies before continuing our journey."

"Why, might I ask are you traveling to Hudson?"

"Hudson is only a rest stop." Wrottzen jumped in. "Our final destination is Gotham."

"You haven't answered my question. Why are the three of you traveling? Why do you want to go to Gotham?"

"Well you see I-"

"We're traveling to Gotham to meet up with a friend." May said, cutting off Wrottzen who gave her an odd look.

"I see." The Elder said scratching his chin. "What information can you give me regarding the outside world? You're the first adventurers we've had in weeks."

"Adventurers are going through a lot right now." Bojohn said. "They've been cut off from their homes and are trying to cope with that, some more successfully than others."

"Is this the reason why Adventurers have been attacking our villages?"

"Yes." Wrottzen popped in. "These Adventurers are having trouble dealing with the changes thrust upon them and have lashed out at anyone they can find, including People of the Land."

"On their behalf we want to apologize and humbly beg for your forgiveness." Bojohn said, bowing his head in respect.

"Thank you." The Elder replied. "Your news has matched reports we have obtained from other villages and your actions have convinced me that you are no threat to our village."

"I am glad we were able to convince you." Bojohn said, "Perhaps we could have our armor returned to us and be allowed to stay the night?"

"Of course! It's the least we can do after our hostile reception. In fact perhaps you can help our village with a problem we've been having."

"What problem would that be?" Wrottzen asked.

"Tis Timitt the Valley Lord." The Elder replied, "He has been venturing closer and closer to our city, destroying crops and homes. Could you please help us brave Adventurers?"

A Quest window suddenly appeared before Bojohn, May and Wrottzen reading: Save the Village! Defeat Timitt the Valley Lord!

"Timitt? Wasn't that the guy we were running from on the way here?" May pointed out.

"It was." Bojohn affirmed, "What do you guys think? Should we accept?"

"We can't." Wrottzen replied flatly. "Fighting that thing would take us a day out of our way, and that's saying we're able to beat him. You're the only one even close to his level Bojohn and you can't beat him alone."

"You're right." Bojohn replied, "There was a reason we ran when put face to face with him before. We'll decline the quest."

"No! We have to accept!" May countered, "That monster is killing the people of this village. We can't just sit back and let that happen!"

"They're just NPCs." Wrottzen replied, "It doesn't matter."

"If we take that logic, what makes us any different from the other adventurers panicking in the city?"

"Rrrr." Wrottzen grumbled.

"She has a point man." Bojohn said, pushing the point home.

"But my body…" He whined in response.

"You've survived this long bro, what's one extra day?"

"Fine." He relented, "But we need to make some demands of the People of the Land first." Turning, Wrottzen spoke to the Elder once again. "If we were to accept, we would need a large supply of healing and mana restoring potions. Could you provide those for us?"

"My villagers will provide you with whatever we have on hand."

"Thanks. Tonight we also require an extra room, one large enough to accommodate me and friends for a strategy session."

"Consider this done as well."

"Then we will accept your quest!" Bojohn replied, "We will face and vanquish Timitt for your village."

Bojohn's statement was met with cheers from everyone present, hopeful that these strangers would be a saving grace for the town.

"Elder, if you could collect all of the potions here, my comrades and I will be retiring to strategize for the battle." Wrottzen said

"Tis the least I can do. Guard! Show them to their room!"

"Yes sir!" The Guard that May flirted with earlier stepped forward and motioned for the three to follow. He led them down a corridor until they reached a cluster of four rooms. "Here are your rooms." He said, "One for each of you and one more for strategizing."

"Thank you." Wrottzen replied curtly. "That will be all for now."

Turning to May, the guard added, "If you need anything, and I mean anything, my room is just down the hall."

"That's so sweet of you." She replied, taking a hold of his arm "There's just one itsy-bitsy thing I need before you go."

"Wh-What's that?" The Guard replied nervously.

"Could you return our armor to us? We need it for pre-battle preparation."

"Of course! Right away!" He replied before scurrying off.

"What was that about?" Bojohn asked, opening the door to the strategy room.

"She flirted with the guy earlier, now he thinks he has a chance." Wrottzen replied.

"Ahh. So that's it. Anyways what's the plan Wrottzen?"

"I have no idea."

After the Guard returned with their armor, May, Bojohn and Wrottzen spent hours trying to come up with a strategy to defeat the field boss but to no avail.

"What if I went to a two sword set?" Bojohn offered after another failed discussion.

"It's the same thing as May switching over to a magic staff rather than the Bo staff." Wrottzen replied. "In theory, it might help but neither of you are familiar enough with those to effectively use them in battle. Our best bets are sticking with our current sets."

"Let's start over again." May said. "We start out with my giving both of you the Forest's Blessing Defense buff before Bojohn rushes into make the first assault."

"After doing as much damage as I can, I get out of there so that Wrottzen can activate Anchor Howl and Fortress Stance."

"My defense will be at its max thanks to Forest's Blessing and Fortress Stance but even still, I'm too low level. I'll only be able to take about two waves of attacks, maybe three depending on when I activate Castle of Stone."

"After those three waves, we'd have to start using healing potions and spells on you." May interjected. "And the battle would become a race of Timitt's Hp vs. our potion supply."

"Which we can't win, even with all the potions the People of the Land have given us." Bojohn said.

"We need something extra." Wrottzen mumbled, "But it's not like that something is just going to drop into our lap."

"Drop…" May repeated. "Did we get any useful drops on our way here?"

"I don't think so" Bojohn replied, "But we can check."

Opening their menus, the three Adventurers proceeded to materialize their day's loot and began rummaging through it.

"Snakeroot, saffron… We have enough raw materials for me to transmute a few healing potions but that isn't going to help us in the scheme of things."

"I guess it's back to the drawing board." May sighed.

"Wait! I missed something!" Bojohn said, and materialized the final item.

Inspecting the item, Wrottzen began to grin. "This might work. OK. Let's start from the top once more but let's throw this into the mix."

 **AN: Sup everyone! Here we have our heroes' first interaction with People of the Land and the start of an epic quest. Will Wrottzen and the others be able to defeat Timitt and save the village? And how does this new item come into play? Feel free to leave a review with your prediction (It might not be what you think).**


	7. Timitt the Valley Lord

"Are we all ready?" Wrottzen asked, as the three prepared to face Timmit.

"Yup!" May said,

"All set! Let's go dude." Bojohn replied

After another couple of hours the previous night, the three were able to come up with a workable strategy and went to sleep. Now refreshed, the three set out from the small village to face the field boss.

Once the three started walking, Wrottzen asked, "Hey May, I never asked you last night but why did you tell those villagers that we were meeting someone in Gotham? Why not tell them the truth?"

"The People of the Land don't seem to register the difference between your voice and body." She explained. "Saying that you are actually a guy trapped in a woman's body probably would have confused them. They would have thought we were making the story up and been less likely to let us stay the night."

"Nice job thinking on your feet!" Bojohn complimented, "I never would have thought of that!"

"See? Bringing me has been helpful hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has." Wrottzen admitted as the three came up on the clearing where Timitt was wandering. "Are you two ready?"

"Let's do this!" Was Bojohn's response before rushing into battle.

"Remember the plan!" Wrottzen cried after him.

"Yeah, yeah. Assertive Force!"

Bojohn landed the first hit and successfully landed the debuff _intimidate,_ lowering the field boss' attack.

"OK. Its our turn now!" Wrottzen declared pulling out the team's key to victory, a new blade named: _Conquistador_.

When striking an opponent, the _Conquistador_ has a slight chance to inflict the _infected_ status on the enemy, slowly lowering their Hp for a short while. Since the underleveled adventurers couldn't defeat Timitt with brute force alone, they planned to wittle down his Hp using the _infected_ status along with normal attack runs.

"Bojohn! Start kiting Timitt but keep the aggro up! I need a couple of hits to get _infected_ off."

"OK but I'm playing a dangerous game here!" He replied before leading the field boss in a circuit about the clearing.

"I'll make it a little less dangerous for you, Forest's Blessing!"

With May's defensive buff in place, Wrottzen rushed in and began striking Timitt with a series of normal slashes, decreasing the aggro sent his way.

After a short while, Bojohn cried, "Have you got it yet?! I can't keep kiting him like this! He's losing interest in me!"

"Not quite yet." Wrottzen replied, slashing again at Timitt. That was the one of the fatal flaws with their plan, the _Conquistador_ didn't apply the _infected_ status after each hit. In their planning phase, the trio had hoped that the status would be applied quickly, but that didn't seem to be the case.

"Wrottzen, look out! He's turning toward you!" May cried.

Turning with club raised, Timitt swung directly at the Guardian.

"Castle of Stone!" Wrottzen cried, glowing yellow with the skill's affect. "I'm only safe for 10 seconds here! You guys get the aggro back up!"

"Right!" Both May and Bojohn replied, launching skills at the field boss.

When Castle of Stone's affect wore off, Timitt was safely aggroed away, leaving Wrottzen open to once again attempt to inflict the status onto him.

"Alright!" Wrottzen said as the desired status was inflicted on the first hit. "About time some luck came our way. K guys he's infected! Switch to our usual attack pattern! Fortress Stance! Anchor Howl!"

"Got it!" May replied.

"Sure thing man." Bojohn chimed in soon after.

As TImitt closed in, Wrottzen stole a quick glance at the condition of his party members.

 _OK. May is in good shape at 70% health. I'm glad she didn't get hit much pulling aggro._ He thought. _Bojohn's at 30% though. That could be a problem._ "May-"

"Heartbeat Healing!" Almost as if she was reading the Guardian's mind, May fired off a healing spell at the exhausted Swashbuckler.

"Bojohn, take a healing potion and start laying debuffs on this guy!" Wrottzen yelled, parrying the field boss' club with his shield. "It's the only way we're going to win!"

"On it!" He replied before jumping back into the fray.

Utilizing Bojohn's debuffs, Wrottzen's defense and May's healing capabilities, the three were able to whittle Timitt's health down to 65% before the _infected_ status wore off.

"OK guys you know the drill!" Wrottzen said. "Switch from attack pattern Alpha to Beta!"

"K!" Bojohn replied. "We'll protect you again while you get the _infected_ status off again."

"Be careful out there!" Wrottzen cautioned. "We're not at 100% anymore so don't take any unnecessary risks."

"Got it!" He replied. "Shall we May?"

"Let's go!" The Druid answered, already rushing off to fight.

While his friends built up aggro from the boss, Wrottzen assessed the situation once again.

 _Timitt is at 63% and dropping. Bojohn is at 45%, May is at 50% and I'm at 45% as well. Considering we've only used up about a quarter of the potions we brought along, things seem to be going well._

"Aura Saber!" He yelled, ready to join the fight once more. While the attack hit, it did not inflict the status needed. _Patience. Patience._ Wrottzen thought trying to calm down.

Although it didn't take as long as the first time, it still took 15 swings to inflict the status on Timitt once again. Switching back to their normal attack pattern, the three continued fighting until their enemy reached 50% Hp.

While Timitt reared his head and unleashed a huge roar, Wrottzen cried, "Its changing attack patterns! Be on your guard!"

"Healing Wind! Forest's Blessing!" May cried, simultaneously raising her allies' Hp and Defense.

"He's been pretty tame so far, don't you think?" Bojohn commented, waiting to see what the field boss would do.

"Yeah." Wrottzen replied. "And that worries me."

TImitt let out another roar, before his skin turned a reddish hue and he charged at the trio of adventurers.

"OK. Just stay on- GAHH!" Wrottzen cried as Timitt's club landed a direct hit and sent him flying.

 _How did he move so fast?_ He thought. _And why did that attack do so much?!_ Glancing at his health bar, the single hit had decreased his health by 10% in comparison to 5% previously. His answer came as soon as he looked at the field boss' status.

"Guys! He's put a buff on himself: _Rage_. His strength and speed are much greater now but his attacks might be less accurate!"

"Thanks for the heads up!" May replied, dancing gracefully across the battlefield. "But I think it had another effect! _Infected_ is gone!"

"That's impossible! We should have been able to get him down to 40% at the very least before that status went away!"

"Quit yapping!" Bojohn yelled as he launched yet another attack at the giant brute. "It doesn't matter why it's gone, just get it up again! Switch to Pattern Beta!"

Once again, May and Bojohn pulled Timitt's attention away so that Wrottzen could attack freely and inflict the status. Wrottzen rushed in once again sword in hand and swung hard at Timitt's back side only to have the _Conquistador_ break on impact.

"Guys! We have a slight problem here!" He yelled. "Attack Pattern Beta isn't of any use to us anymore."

"Why not? Is he catching onto us?" Bojohn asked.

"No. Our trump card broke. I can't inflict _infected_ onto him anymore!"

"But we were counting on that to bring in the win! What'll we do now?"

"Switch back to Attack Pattern Alpha!" May cried, "We'll have to think on the fly!"

Once the three returned to their original Attack Pattern, they ran into the same problem that was brought up in the strategy meeting: Timitt's Health vs. Potion Supply.

"We're using too many potions!" Wrottzen cried, blocking another blow. "We only have a dozen or so left!"

"I can only use so many healing spells!" May cried, she had long since begun healing full time.

"We need to try something different." Bojohn chimed in. "Anything! 'Cause what we're doing now isn't working."

Timitt was now down to 15% health but had made the three adventurers fight every inch of the way. The battle, now entering its second hour, was beginning to wear on the small party. Wrottzen was now at 25% health, Bojohn at 30% once again and May at 50% health. Each not willing to use anymore potions than necessary at this point in the battle.

After a little thought, Wrottzen replied, "Bojohn! Back to Pattern Beta! This time we're protecting May."

"Why? What are you planning?" Bojohn asked.

"May, tell us when all of your healing spells have gone off cooldown. While you're waiting, get your MP back to full."

"Got it."

"Bojohn, our objective now is to simply draw his attention. Dodge as many attacks as possible!"

"OK buddy but you still haven't filled us in on your plan."

"You'll see, now let's go!"

Using a combination of Anchor Howl and Hit-and-Run tactics, the duo of Wrottzen and Bojohn were able to successfully distract the boss while May's spells regenerated.

"They're ready!" May cried from the sidelines.

"Great!" Wrottzen said as he drank one of the final potions in their inventory. "When I give the signal, start firing off those spells nonstop at both me and Bojohn."

"Right!"

"Bojohn, I need a maximum amount of damage output from you. Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." He replied.

"Let's go then."

As the duo charged at their oversized enemy, Wrottzen turned back and yelled, "NOW!"

Once May started casting the healing spells, neither Bojohn nor Wrottzen began worrying about defense. Instead both focused on dealing as much damage as possible to the field boss.

"We've almost got it!" Bojohn said excitedly as Timitt's health ticked below 5%.

"Hopefully he doesn't have another trick up his sleeve." Wrottzen replied as he continued to hack away at their enemy.

Not a moment later, Timitt, made a huge jump into the air and retreated back about 10 feet.

"He's going to go enraged again!" Bojohn warned.

TImitt roared and slammed his club into the ground creating a series of cracks.

"No. This is different." Wrottzen observed. "It's an AOE attack! Bojohn, RUN!"

One more club smash was all it took for the cracks in the ground to become huge unavoidable fissures. Both Wrottzen and Bojohn were caught in the attack, depleting what meager reserves of health they had left.

As his Hp hit zero, the words 'You are Dead' appeared in front of Wrottzen along with a one minute countdown. _So this is how death works here._ Wrottzen thought. _It's almost peaceful in a way._

Once the timer reached 30 seconds, May appeared in front of him babbling words he couldn't hear. _That's right May is still there. Hopefully she can get back to the village OK._ He thought offhandedly, stuck in the peaceful bliss that came with dying. Suddenly, a flash of light appeared from May's hands and Wrottzen's health and MP restored to 25%, ending the countdown at 14.

"Wh-What happened?" He asked, trying to sit up.

"Wrottzen! Thank God you're OK!" May cried, before collapsing into a crying fit in her companion's chest. "You can't leave me all alone out here!"

"It'll… be OK." Wrottzen replied awkwardly. "But how am I still alive?"

"I… hic… I had enough MP left to cast a resurrection spell." She replied, beginning to calm down.

"Thank you!" He replied, "What about Bojohn? He was caught in the attack too."

"I only have one resurrection spell." May admitted, "And you were closer."

"OK, you need to get out of here." Wrottzen stated, quickly turning serious. "I'll distract him using Anchor Howl while you make a run for it."

"That handles me, what about you?"

"Don't worry about me. Just run to the village and wait there. Bojohn and I will be along in a week or so."

"You're planning to sacrifice yourself so I can escape? No, No, NO!" May cried, banging her fists into Wrottzen's armor. "You can't leave me out here all alone. You and Bojohn are the only people I know here. I don't want to be alone…"

As he looked down onto May's flushed face, eyes still puffy and red from crying, Wrottzen realized just how lucky he was to have found Bojohn that first day. _When I got trapped here at least I had my best friend to help work things out._ He thought. _May had no one. She was thrown into a new world where she knew nothing and no one until she met us. That's why she insisted on tagging along. She just didn't want to be alone._

"Fine…" Wrottzen said, May's face lighting up at the response, "Since we can't escape together, we'll have to defeat Timitt together. I'll enter Fortress Stance and draw aggro while you hit him with everything you have."

"OK." May said, calming down a little more.

"If we do this, promise me one thing." Wrottzen asked, "If I fall again, just run. I'll be able to fight with my mind at ease if I know you'll do that."

"O…K" She responded slowly.

"Good. Now I have an idea that might let us win. Let's stagger our attacks. While he focuses on one of us, the other will attack. Ready?"

"Yeah."

The two climbed out of the fissure and traveled to opposite sides of the clearing. Once in position, Wrottzen charged. "Aura Saber!"

After striking Timitt with the single move, he began to retreat, kiting the boss along with him.

"Now May!"

"Centripetal Motion!" May flew in with her staff spinning rapidly above her. Once the skill was complete, she also began kiting the boss, this time away from Wrottzen.

"Good! I think one more time will do it!"

"All right. Maybe we can-" At the most inopportune time, May tripped on one of the upturned rocks on the battlefield and was left wide open for an attack. Timitt, not one to pass up such a golden opportunity, brought back his club to deliver the final blow.

"KYAAAA!" May screamed in horror.

"Shield Swing!"

In the nick of time, Wrottzen arrived and deflected Timitt's swing away from May and into the ground.

"I won't let you touch her! Cross Slash!"

Activating one final skill, Wrottzen attacked Timitt ferociously bringing him from 1% to 0 Hp.

As Timitt disintegrated and the two received Level Up notifications, neither adventurer spoke, relieved that the job was done.

"Are you OK?" Wrottzen asked, finally breaking the silence which had fallen on the clearing.

"I'm fine, but my ankle is sprained." May replied. She blushed slightly before asking, "Could you carry me?"

"Of course."

May hopped on the Guardian's back and the two walked in silence back to the village.

 **AN: Hey guys! Sorry about the slight wait but here's the new chapter and its an action filled one to boot! I hope you enjoy!**


	8. Girl's Night?

When the two adventurers arrived back at the village, they were met with a cheering welcoming party, glad that their hopes about the adventurers were confirmed.

"Congratulations on defeating Timitt!" The village elder said. "But weren't there three of you this morning?"

"Yeah. One of us was defeated while fighting." Wrottzen replied.

"That's nothing to worry about." The Elder replied, "Adventurers simply revive at the Cathedral."

"He's right, remember those PKers!" May said excitedly. "We have to contact Bojohn and tell him what happened!"

Activating the telepathic link, Wrottzen called Bojohn and said, "Buddy, you there?"

The following seconds were tensed before hearing Bojohn's reply of "Yeah, I'm here but where are you?"

"Thank goodness you're OK. May and I are back in the village. We defeated Timitt the Valley Lord!"

"That's great man but what do we do now?" Bojohn asked. "I'm all the way back here in Syr and it'll take me a couple of weeks to get back to the village, maybe longer since I don't have you two with me."

"We'll just have to make do with this situation." Wrottzen replied. "Gather as much information and healing items as you can before heading back toward us. Once you're here, we'll continue to Hudson."

"OK. I'll have a lot to tell you when I get there! I'll get everything together tomorrow and set out right afterword."

"Great! We can't wait to see you. Contact us if you need anything."

Immediately after Wrottzen hung up, May asked, "Is he OK?"

"Yup Bojohn's fine. He said he'd be joining us in a couple of weeks."

"That is great news!" The village elder said, "We will plan a feast for his arrival. Until then you two are welcome to stay in our village."

"Thank you Elder." Wrottzen replied. "We will accept your generous offer. Now if you don't mind it's getting late and it has been a LONG day."

"Of course, of course. Don't let an old man keep you. Rest and relax, you deserve it."

Wrottzen picked May up once again and went to their rooms.

"Thank you for carrying me." May said once comfortable in her room.

"You were injured." Wrottzen replied, "I didn't have a choice."

"Two weeks is a long time to wait for Bojohn. What are we going to do until he arrives?"

"I don't know what we'll be doing everyday but I was thinking tomorrow we could both experiment with different builds. Maybe get you used to a Magic Staff and myself used to a Bow, in case we ever need to do something like this again."

"Tomorrow?" May whined.

"Yes. Is there a problem with tomorrow?"

"It's just we've been traveling and fighting nonstop for nearly two weeks now. After yesterday, I don't know how much more I can take."

"It'll be fine." Wrottzen said, patting his teammate on the back. "I know that the danger seems real, heck it was real enough to shake me a little bit too, but just remember: It's still a game. We can still be revived and fight again, Bojohn is proof of that."

"OK, but do we still have to leave the village tomorrow?"

"I guess we don't have to rush things." Wrottzen replied, relenting to his comrade's wishes. "How about we just go find the equipment tomorrow morning, and then we can do whatever you want in the afternoon. Deal?"

"Deal." May said.

"Good. Now what would cheer you up the most tomorrow?"

"Hmmm" May thought for a moment before replying, "Well…There is one thing I can think of, but you probably wouldn't go for it…"

"I said whatever you wanted and I meant it. Now what is it?"

"Whenever I got stressed about things IRL, I used to get my friends together and we'd have a big girl's night."

"Girl's… night?" Wrottzen replied. "I'm sure I can find some villagers who would be happy to have a girl's night with-"

"No!" She said firmly. "Just you. You're the only one who understands what I'm going through right now."

"Yeah… But-"

"You're as close as I can get to an IRL girl and you said whatever I wanted, or are you a man that backs out of his word?"

"But… Fine." He relented. "We'll have a girl's night."

"Thank You!" May said, joyously hugging the Guardian. "You don't know how happy you've made me."

"Yeah, well get some rest." Wrottzen replied nervously, "You don't want to be tuckered out for girl's night."

"Same to you, OK?"

"OK." He replied, walking toward the door. "Night."

The next morning the two adventurers walked around town, getting hushed stares and murmurs as they went.

"What's up with everyone today?" Wrottzen asked. "I thought they knew that a couple of adventurers were in town."

"Word probably spread about our victory over Timitt." May replied, "We're stars in this village now, we'll have to get used to that."

"The hero worshipping stares I can adjust to, but I don't think I'll ever get used to the way some of these guys are looking at me."

"You're an attractive woman who just saved their town, of course they're going to leer a little bit. Wouldn't you?"

"True, true." Wrottzen agreed before the two parted ways to weapons stands on opposite sides of the road.

"H-Hello Miss!" The young cart owner stammered. "What can I help you with?"

"I'm looking for a bow and a few arrows, nothing too fancy, nothing too shoddy though either. Do you have anything like that available?" Wrottzen asked.

"Of course!" He replied quickly and pulled out two bows. "These are a couple of our best models. The one on your right is a longbow, great for sniping opponents from a distance. The one on your left is a shortbow, they lose a little range compared to their longbow counterpart but they are much easier to handle and transport."

"Sounds like the shortbow is the one for me." Wrottzen declared, "Can I handle it to see if I like the feel?"

"Of course!"

As Wrottzen inspected the bow and put it through the motions, the cart owner began to make small talk.

"You and your friend are the talk of the town you know."

"I've noticed." Wrottzen replied off-handedly.

"I heard that the whole village will be celebrating your victory once your friend returns. Two weeks is a long time to wait for a celebration."

"I get what you're saying. I would have liked to have the celebration the night after but we have to wait for Bojohn."

"This Bojohn… Is he your boyfriend?"

"Nah just a friend." The adventurer said before handing back the bow. "I like the feel of it but it's a little more than I'd like to spend."

"Interesting…" The owner murmured before getting back to business. "I can take off about 1,000 Gold but not a cent more."

"If that's the case, I think I'll take it."

"Very good! Very good!" The owner replied before handing Wrottzen the bow. "I hope you'll come again soon!"

On the other side of the street, May was just finishing up her transaction as well.

"What'd ya get?" Wrottzen asked.

"Just an ordinary Oak Staff. It's not that powerful but it'll get me through the motions. You?"

"I got a shortbow and a few arrows." Wrottzen replied, showing his comrade the new weapon.

"Cool, but what's this?" She said, gesturing to a note that had been tied to the bow.

"I don't know." Wrottzen replied before untying the note and reading it aloud. "Miss Adventurer, thank you for your patronage. I wanted to write this note to tell you what my mouth could not. Your beauty knows no bounds and your crimson hair waves behind you like the petals of a pristine rose, which you are. If it would so please you, would you allow this humble cart owner to escort you to the feast?"

Wrottzen's eyes went wide in disbelief while May simply laughed hysterically. Looking back at the politely waving cart owner, all Wrottzen could manage was a blank wave back before returning to the rooms. He was just about to enter his room when May took him by the arm and said, "It's time for Girl's night remember?"

 _What did I do to deserve this?_ Wrottzen thought before resigning himself to his fate.

The two entered May's room and took a seat before Wrottzen asked, "What do you do at a Girl's night? I'm not really experienced with this sort of thing."

"Well it's mostly a lot of talking, so let's start off simple." May said, "I'll brush your hair while you tell me a little about yourself. We've been traveling together for half a month and I know next to nothing about you."

As May took out a brush and began stroking it through Wrottzen's hair he asked, "Where should I start?"

"Anywhere! How about with your username. How did you come up with the name Wrottzen?"

"Let's see… I didn't want to use my real name but I wanted something cool. Bojohn just modified the name of a TV character for his, but I simply took the word 'rotten' and added a couple of letters, then Boom. Wrottzen is born."

"That's creative." May said, "All I did was use the month I was born."

"That's just fine too." Wrottzen replied. "Wasn't it the end of May when we got stuck in here? How old did you turn?"

"I just turned 19. I'm finishing up my senior year of highschool." May admitted. "What about you? When's your birthday?"

"Not until September. I'll be turning 20 and I'm just finishing up my freshman year of college."

"Cool, we're about the same age!" May said, before presenting Wrottzen with the brush, "I did you, now you do me."

Taking the brush, Wrottzen replied, "I could make a dirty joke right now but I'll hold back."

"Oh yeah, just like you want to get dirty with that cart owner."

"Shut up!" Wrottzen said, face turning red. "That was a misunderstanding."

"So, do you have anyone special waiting for you on the other side?" May asked, as the brush began to go through her hair.

"Just my family."

"No girlfriend?"

"I haven't had a girlfriend in all of my 19 years on Earth." He admitted. "A buddy of mine had a saying: 'There may be plenty of fish in the sea, but I'm in the desert, alone'"

"That's awful!"

"It's not that bad. In life there are just some people who draw the short end of the stick. I drew the short end of the love stick." Quickly changing the subject, Wrottzen asked, "How about you? You've probably had tons of boyfriends."

"No, only a couple, but none at the moment." May said. "I get so shy that I don't know how to talk around guys."

"Then what about me?" Wrottzen asked, "I'm a guy, what makes you so comfortable around me?"

"My head knows you're a guy, but I don't think my body can get past these mounds on your chest."

"Gah!" Wrottzen cried, dropping the brush, startled at May's quick turn and chest grab.

"Oooo. You're sensitive there." She smiled evily.

Grabbing a pillow off the nearby bed, Wrottzen cried, "Cut it Out!" and struck her companion away.

"Oh is that how you want to play?" May replied, grabbing a seat cushion to use in lue of a pillow.

"Bring it on Sister!" Wrottzen said, taunting May into attacking.

Soon, any worries the two may have had drifted away, replaced only with laughing and horseplay until the dead of night, when the two fell to the floor and went to sleep, exhausted.

 **AN: Hey guys! A little lighter chapter this time around(We needed it after the Timitt fight) and some character development. Hopefully you all enjoyed! Feel free to leave a review with your thoughts.**


	9. Celebration

While waiting for Bojohn's arrival in the village, Wrottzen and May spent their time learning about the new weapons they had purchased. The two were eventually able to progress to the point where they could travel outside of the village and manage a monster or two, despite being 10 levels below. Even though they were productive weeks, the two adventurers were chomping at the bit to leave and continue their quest.

"When's Bojohn supposed to get here?" May whined as the two walked through town.

"According to his last estimate, he should be arriving here today." Wrottzen replied

"Thank God! The villagers are nice but there's nothing to do here."

It was true. Other than training on their new weapons, May and Wrottzen had little else to do in the village, and with the monsters outside quite a bit higher leveled than them, time there was limited.

"At least there's the banquet tonight. Accept any of the invitations you received?"

"No! Don't even bring those up!" Wrottzen said flushed red.

The two ladies had been the talk of the town since Timitt's defeat and since the banquet was delayed on account of Bojohn, many villagers had attempted to ask both May and Wrottzen to the event.

"Don't worry, I won't." May said. "I haven't accepted any invites either so I can't really talk."

As the two walked past the city square, Wrottzen gestured toward people setting up decorations and said, "They're really going all out for this aren't they."

"I don't blame them. Being a remote village like this, it's probably the biggest thing to happen to them in months."

Suddenly a small boy sprinted through the yard yelling, "He's here! He's here!"

"I guess Bojohn's arrived." May said, "Let's go and meet him."

When the two finally found Bojohn, he was riding slowly down the road on horseback, waving to everyone as he passed by.

"Certainly hamming it up here, aren't you?" Wrottzen said smirking.

"Well how often do you get a chance to ride into town as a hero?" Bojohn replied, "Not often, especially in the real world."

"What's up Bojohn?" May chimed in, "How was your trip?"

"Hey May! Nice seeing you again! It went well all things considered. Things went a lot slower without you two though."

"Did you bring supplies?" Wrottzen asked, getting back to business.

"Yeah. I got a ton of potions back in Syr. We should be good to make it to Hudson now."

"Great! We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning." Wrottzen replied.

Dismounting from his horse, Bojohn walked up to Wrottzen and whispered, "Can I talk to you alone for a second?"

"Of course. What abou-"

"Welcome back brave adventurer!" The village elder said, cutting the conversation short. "We're glad you were able to make it without too much trouble."

"Yeah…" Bojohn replied, trying to hide his annoyance of having his conversation interrupted.

"We will be holding a banquet tonight in honor of you three, so if you would be so kind as to go with our tailors, they will prepare you for the event."

"Thanks, but can I talk to my friend first? It's kind of important."

"There's no time!" The Elder exclaimed before the tailors began dragging Bojohn off by force.

"Hey! Wait a second!"

Chuckling, Wrottzen cried, "We'll talk at the banquet tonight! Have fun getting ready!"

As Bojohn was dragged away kicking and screaming, May tapped the Guardian on the shoulder and said, "Come on! We have to get ready too!"

"Right. Let's go!"

 **At the Banquet**

"This place sure is bustling." May commented, surveying the crowd. She was dressed up in a white blouse and green skirt for the event.

"They're publicly recognizing us as heroes of this place. It seems surreal." Bojohn replied tugging the collar of his new suit.

"Let's just get this part over with and then have some fun." Wrottzen said. May had dressed him in a tight fitting black dress which he was not eager to show off to the village.

"Shh!" Bojohn whispered. "It's starting!"

The gathered crowd suddenly went silent as the Elder stepped onto the erected stage and walked to the center stage.

"Welcome, everyone!" He began. "I want to thank you all for coming here tonight, a night which has been two weeks in the making. As you know until recently, our village was in dire straits: Timitt the Valley Lord was destroying our crops and homes and rumors were spreading that adventurers would be unwilling to help us anymore. But then three brave souls ventured into our village." Turning to the adventurers off stage, the Elder waved them on stage. "These three adventurers: Wrottzen the Guardian, Bojohn the Swashbuckler and May the Druid, graciously accepted our request to face the Valley Lord and succeeded in defeating the brute!"

The crowd cheered as the three walked onto the stage and took a bow.

The Elder continued, "If Timitt had been allowed to continued his rampage, our village surely would have been destroyed." Taking a bow himself, the Elder said, "We will be forever in your debt."

As the crowd began cheering wildly once again, Bojohn whispered to Wrottzen, "Say something man!"

"Wh-Why me?!" He whispered back.

"You're much better at public speaking than me, and you created the plan that defeated that field boss."

"Go on!" May said, before pushing her friend toward center stage.

Wrottzen cleared his throat, before speaking, "When I first arrived at this town, me and my friends were held at spear point and dragged in front of your Elder. Not the greatest first impression we could have gotten." The audience chuckled before allowing him to continue, "Originally I was skeptical about taking on your quest: Taking on a nearly unbeatable monster for people who were not being very friendly. But after living among you for the past two weeks, I am certainly glad we did. Everyone here are hard-working and honest people and I'm glad we could do something to contribute to your community. Thank you."

There was standing ovation as Wrottzen walked back in line with his friends and let the Elder take back center stage.

"Thank you for those touching words." He said, "Now I know you all didn't come here to hear me yap all night, so let the festivities begin!"

Once the Adventurers and Elder were off the stage, a musician replaced them and began playing a tune on the violin. The crowd separated into three different groups, people going for food, those dancing and those standing to the side simply conversing. May was immediately invited dancing while Wrottzen assimilated into the third group of conversing people. He was simply eating food when Bojohn came up to him.

"Hey man, how are you enjoying the evening?"

"Fine I guess." Wrottzen replied, "I've had to turn down about 10 requests to dance though, it getting annoying. At least the food's good."

"Yeah. We're lucky the whole ingredient meal thing doesn't apply to People of the Land."

The two went silent for a while before Wrottzen asked, "What kind of information were you able to get from Syr?"

"People are still afraid." Bojohn said. "Some have taken to lazing about in the streets while others are rushing to join Guilds."

"There are safety in numbers." The Guardian commented.

"Syr is now controlled basically by one or two Guilds and I here that its the same all around."

"So we can expect the same situation once we get to Hudson?"

"Exactly."

"Good work. This was exactly the type of info I wanted you to gather."

"There's one more thing..." Bojohn said, suddenly nervous.

"What is it?" Wrottzen asked, wondering what could make his friend so nervous.

"It's about what happens when you die."

"What do you mean? Didn't you just reappear at the Cathedral?"

"Eventually yes but not immediately." The Swashbuckler admitted.

"What happened?" Wrottzen prodded.

"It was almost like a dream. I was back in the real world, reliving scenes from my past. These scenes kept playing until I realized a common theme between them: Thinking before acting. After that, I was transported somewhere else, where I was back in my avatar staring down at the world. Once about a minute had passed, I was teleported to the Cathedral in Syr."

"Interesting..." Wrottzen said stroking his chin. "Was anyone else talking about his in Syr?"

"No."

"What as you so shaken up then? It doesn't sound that bad."

"You'll understand once it happens to you." Bojohn explained, "The memories are corrupted, not changed, but they have a different, more ominous feel about them. And once you return to your avatar from your IRL body, you're struck with an intense sense of helplessness. It is not a feeling you want to experience again."

"Thanks for the heads up." Wrottzen said. Just as Bojohn was starting to walk away, he added, "Could you do me a favor and keep this a secret from May?"

"Why? She has a right to know too."

"I know but she was really broken up after our battle with Timitt. She's still really fragile right now and I feel like if we tell her this now, she'll never want to venture outside a safe zone again."

"We're going to tell her." Bojohn declared, "But I guess it doesn't have to be right now... I'll keep it a secret."

"Keep what a secret?" May asked.

"Gah!" Both Wrottzen and Bojohn jumped back at May's sudden appearance.

"Secret? What secret?" Wrottzen replied quickly.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Bojohn said, just as quick.

"OK. Now I know something's up." May said, hearing how defensive her comrades were being. "Are you two hiding something from me?"

"We... um... ah." Bojohn stammered.

"OK, you caught us." Wrottzen said, quickly thinking of a lie. "Bojohn found a really cool drop on the way here that would have been perfect for you, but he lost it."

"What? I-"

"Come on man!" May teased Bojohn. "I thought you were better than that. How do you even lose an item anyway?"

"I- I don't know." Bojohn replied. "I thought you were dancing. What bring you over this way?"

"This little guy wanted an introduction." She replied, gesturing to the boy standing nervously behind her.

"Hey there little man! What's happening?" Bojohn said.

"Nothing much..." He replied.

"Didn't you have something you wanted to ask Wrottzen?" May prodded.

Now blushing, the child stammered, "Y-You're really p-pretty Miss... Would y-you like to dance?"

"I... I..." Wrottzen said, trying to think of a way out of this situation.

"Come on man." Bojohn whispered, "It's one thing to turn down grown men but you can't turn down a little kid."

"I can't even dance as a man, and you expect me to do it as a woman!" He whispered back.

"Just go out there and follow his lead." May said, "Even if its only for one song, I think it would mean the world to him."

"Fine..." He relented.

Before the Guardian could reply, May added, "Don't give an attitude OK?"

Crouching down to the child's height, Wrottzen replied, "Of course I'll dance with you."

"Really!" He replied, face lighting up.

"Really really. But only because you asked like a little gentleman." Wrottzen replied, thinking _Why did this have to happen?_

As May and Bojohn watched Wrottzen awkwardly dance with the boy, May asked, "You want to go a round?"

"Who, me? Dance?" Bojohn replied.

"Yeah you. Its the least I can do for not reviving you during the battle."

"Don't worry about it. You could only heal one person, I understand."

"I'm glad you do but I'm still making it up to you." She declared, dragging her friend to the dance floor.

"You really don't have to." Bojohn said, racked with guilt over the secret he was keeping from her. As the two began to dance, he glanced over at Wrottzen and thought _I hope you know what you're doing._

 **AN: Hey everyone, sorry about the wait. I've been swamped with schoolwork, but here's a new chapter!**

 **I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support. In the single month since this story started, it already has more favorites, and more follows than my other work which is 30 Chapters long! To show my appreciation, I'd like to open up the floor for some of your OCs! Next chapter we'll be reaching Hudson, and I'll need a character to be its 'leader'. Either send me a PM or leave a review with your character's info and it might appear in Adjustments!**

 **Thanks again for the support! Until next time!**


	10. Hudson's Atlas

"Finally, Civilization!" May cried as the trio walked into Hudson.

The Adventurers had left the village the morning after the banquet and continued on their way toward Hudson. With the levels gained from defeating Timitt the Valley Lord and their respective training, the remainder of the trip went fairly fast, reaching Hudson in under a week.

As the three walked through the city, Wrottzen asked, "Bojohn. What can you tell us about Hudson? Did you hear anything while you were back in Syr?"

"Sorry man. I don't have anything for ya." He replied, "I was only able to glean some cursory information about the world's general situation. I didn't get much on specific cities."

"Don't worry about it." Wrottzen replied, "We're here and that's the important thing."

"Um, I don't suppose you tow have noticed all the strange looks we've been getting since arriving right?" May interjected.

"I've noticed them." Wrottzen said reassuringly. "They're probably just surprised to see three unfamiliar faces in town."

"Should we be worried? I mean what if they attack us like the People of the Land did when we entered their village?"

"Don't worry about it." Bojohn said. "If they were going to do something to us, they probably would've already done so already."

"Excuse me!" The trio turned around to see a large muscular Guardian running up toward them.

"How can we help you?" Wrottzen asked wearily.

"If you wouldn't mind coming with me, our Guild leader would like to speak with you."

"What was that about them leaving us alone?" May whispered to Bojohn.

"Fine. We'll speak with your Guild leader." Wrottzen said. "Lead the way."

"Thank you." The Guardian replied before leading the three outsiders toward the Guild Hall.

"Why'd you accept their offer?" Bojohn whispered as they turned a corner. "We could've taken this creep."

"Perhaps, but we can't take on the whole city." The boy turned girl explained, "If this whole city is under one guild's control, best case scenario is we'd be run out of town and we don't have nearly enough supplies to make it to Gotham. Worst case scenario is… you know…"

"Oh." Was all Bojohn could say in reply as they were lead to the Guild Hall in silence.

Once inside, they were lead to a doorway where the Guardian said, "Our Guild Leader is waiting in here. Thank you for cooperating."

"No problem." Bojohn said, adding, "At least these guys are polite." Once the Guardian was out of earshot.

"Let's do this." Wrottzen said, opening the door to the Guild Hall.

The Hall was extraordinarily large, with furnishing reminiscent of a throne room. Sitting in the seat of honor was a feminine looking elf boy of about 17. Once he noticed his guests, he jumped out of this throne and said, "Welcome! Welcome! Thank you for agreeing to speak with me."

"We came to speak with the Guild Leader." Wrottzen said. "Where is he?"

"You're lookin' at him!" The boy replied with pride.

"You're the Guild Leader!?" Wrottzen replied with disbelief, "You sure don't look like a Guild Leader…"

"Well you don't exactly sound like a woman either." He shot back.

"That's because I'm not a woman. I'm a guy!"

"Exactly and I'm the Guild Leader Hin."

"Nice to meet you Hin." May said, before Wrottzen could insult the Guild Leader again. "My name is May, this is Bojohn and the Guardian you just had a verbal spar with is Wrottzen."

"Nice to meet you all." He replied before gesturing them toward an adjacent room. "Let's conduct our business here. The whole throne room thing doesn't exactly set the best mood for business."

Opening the door, the next room was revealed to be a small office with a wooden desk piled high with papers.

"Sorry about the mess." Hin said, clearing some of the papers off the desk. "At the moment, my guild, Atlas, controls about 75% of Hudson, with a few smaller guilds and solo players making up the final 25%. You can imagine how much paperwork that is. Heh Heh."

"Don't worry about it." Bojohn replied, "So what did you want to talk with us about?"

"I wanted to talk with you about your journey to get here, but I have one more thing to take care of." Turning toward the ceiling, Hin yelled, "I know you're listening Ayumi, you might as well come out!"

A few moments passed before a black clad figure appeared, almost instantly next to the Guild Leader.

"Hin, I was trying to keep watch on these suspicious characters to protect you!" The new arrival explained, "What if they try to harm you?"

"This Assassin is my second in command." Hin said, gesturing toward the busty black-haired girl next to him. "Now that we're all present let's begin. I've been getting reports from all around the city that three strangers had entered the city. Are you from out of town or have you just been holed up somewhere for the past month?"

"It's true." Wrottzen confirmed, "We traveled from Syr and just arrived in Hudson today."

"And what's your business here in Hudson?" Ayumi asked accusingly, "You've probably come to help one of the other guilds take control of Hudson."

"No, no!" May jumped in, mediating once again. "We're just passing through on our way to Gotham."

"I'm sorry to pry like this but it's to confirm you're telling the truth." Hin said, "Why are you going to Gotham?"

"It's a little personal." Wrottzen replied, not wanting to tell another player about the possibility of Appearance Changing Potion, "But I'll tell you it's to gain an item we absolutely need."

"See Hin! They're hiding something!" Ayumi cried, "They can't be trusted!"

"No. I believe them." Hin said. "You can tell from their eyes they're telling the truth."

"But-"

"No buts!" Hin said, cutting off Ayumi's next complaint. "I'm sorry again for prying, one can't be too careful anymore. Please join us for dinner tonight here in the Guild Hall, as Atlas' way of apologizing."

"We'd be delighted to." May replied for the three of them.

"Excellent! I'll see the three of you back here in about three hours then. Ayumi, if you would be so kind as to walk our guests to the door?"

"Of course Hin." She replied overly cheerful. "But first let me inform Wrottzen and May of the dress for dinner."

The Assassin pulled the two girls off to the side and her cheerful attitude suddenly shifted to menace, "I don't know who you bitches are but I'm going to give you two one warning." She said, "Hin is _mine,_ got it? If either of you two lay a finger on him or do anything to hurt him, the Cathedral will be your permanent place of residence, kapeesh?"

Both May and Wrottzen nodded their heads before Ayumi continued, "Good! The dinner won't be anything fancy so you can just come in regular clothes. Food will be served at 6 so you have about 3 and a half hours to find a place to stay and get ready. I'll be watching you tonight."

As Wrottzen and May walked out the door to meet Bojohn, a bewildered Wrottzen said, "Girls are scary."

"Yeah, we are."

 **Atlas Guild Hall Dinner**

Finding a place to stay for the night turned out to be more difficult than anticipated, but Wrottzen, Bojohn and May were all able to make it to the Guild Hall in time for dinner.

"Welcome!" Hin greeted them once again, "Take a seat! Our chefs have everything prepared and waiting."

As the trio took their seats, Bojohn asked, "When you say chef, do mean that you're employing People of the Land to cook?"

"No." Hin replied confused, "The only People of the Land left in town are business owners. These chefs are Adventurers."

 _Great_ Wrottzen thought as a bowl of soup was placed in front of him, _Another bland, tasteless meal._ He was quite surprised when he started eating the soup, that it had actual taste.

"This soup… Tastes like soup." May exclaimed, as Bojohn started shoveling spoonful after spoonful into his mouth.

"You figured out how to make actual food?" Wrottzen asked.

"You say that like it's a big surprise." Ayumi said from across the table.

"They've been traveling for the past month Ayumi, they probably haven't heard about it."

"Abowt wahh?" Bojohn said, mouth stuffed with bread.

"Someone down South found out that if you have the chef subclass and physically cook the ingredients, one can make food with actual taste."

"Amazing!" May said, between bites.

"When I mentioned chefs, why did you immediately assume they were People of the Land?" Hin asked.

Wrottzen and May explained about the Village they stayed in and how they had edible food there as well.

Two courses and about a dozen stories later, Hin laughed and said, "And that's why Ayumi isn't allowed in any K-Mart." Finishing his story.

"Hiin." Ayumi whined, "That's embarrassing for me. Did you really have to tell these strangers that story?"

"Well they've told us all about themselves, it's only fair that we tell them a few stories as well." Hin replied, "And besides, I trust them. In fact they might be able to help us out with something."

"What do you need?" Wrottzen asked, intrigued.

"I've been getting reports about attacks from across the border. Some of the cities up North have been completely overrun. I've wanted to lead a raid party up to see what's happening but I haven't left the city since the Apocalypse. With experienced travelers like you with us, I think we could successfully make the trip."

"We'll think about it." Wrottzen said, already trying to think of ways to decline the offer in his head. He then noticed Bojohn deep in thought and asked, "Something bothering you Bojohn?"

"Attacks from across the border… It sounds familiar." He replied. "Wait! What was the date we got stuck in the game?"

"It was May 20th, why?" May said.

"That's part of a yearly event: 'The British are Coming'"

"I haven't heard of that one." Wrottzen said.

"Because lost year you were too low level to try and participate." Bojohn said. "It's a Memorial Day event where the Confederacy, or the United States IRL, is invaded by forces from the Country of the North, or Canada IRL. Normally it's defeated easily by some of the larger Guilds but I guess this year it slipped through the cracks."

"You're right! I can't believe I missed that!" Hin exclaimed. "Now I want to go even more. Please accompany my Guild North to face these invaders!"

"Can we have a moment alone to discuss this alone?" Wrottzen asked. He waited for Hin and Ayumi to leave the room before saying, "We can't. We have to get to Gotham."

"What about those people up North? They need help. Help that Atlas is willing to give if we accompany them." May said.

"A Guild this large surely has higher level players than us." Wrottzen replied, "If we could make it from Syr to Hudson, I'm sure they can go North with no issues."

"You've never been in a raid Wrottzen." Bojohn cut in. "The more high level players you have in one group, the more aggro they're going to pull when moving through an area. That trip won't be a cakewalk by any means."

"But we've already been delayed so much by the whole Timitt the Valley Lord quest." Wrottzen cried. "Do you think I enjoy being stuck in a girl's body, and being mistaken for one by nearly everyone I pass by?! Well I don't! The Appearance Changing Potion is my top priority! Atlas can find their own way."

"Dude. If this quest goes uncompleted, these invaders will continue southward, maybe even reaching Gotham. What happens if they get there before us? They could ransack the city and destroy that your Potion." Bojohn said, trying to reason with his friend. "What are you going to do if your lifeline is destroyed?"

"Grrr." Wrottzen growled in reply.

"I know you're in a rush to get your old body back but the sooner we get North, the easier repelling this invasion will be." Bojohn said, "Times, it's a good leveling and money gathering opportunity. That Potion isn't going to be cheap."

"Yeah…" The Guardian replied dejectedly.

"Then it's settled. We'll travel with Hin's Guild to complete the Memorial Day quest." May declared.

"On one condition." Wrottzen said. "After this is completed, we travel directly to Gotham. No more side quests. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Deal."

May and Bojohn replied before calling Hin back into the room to finish the meal.

 **AN: I'm not dead guys! Sorry it took so long to get another chapter to you. I've had a lot of deal with school-wise along with some computer issues. But I hope you enjoy the chapter, this 'Goblin King' parallel, is going to lay the baseline for the next few chapters. A big thanks to HaruhiFumio for the submission of Hin. Your support means a lot. Until next time!**


	11. Chokepoint

"Pretty smooth sailing so far, am I right?" Hin asked as he Wrottzen, Bojohn and May walked along a dirt path toward the Canadian border.

Atlas along with their guests had been traveling North for a few days now and encountered very little in the way of resistance.

"Yeah so far so good." Wrottzen replied, "But we still haven't encountered any British soldiers yet. The real fighting hasn't even begun."

"The way I see it is that even though we haven't fought any battles yet, it also means the British haven't come down this far, and that means a smaller distance we have to push them back."

Atlas' raid party had been marching North for nearly a week now with no issues arising. Any enemies encountered were easily dispatched by the high level Adventurers.

"I have people scouting ahead." Hin said. "Hopefully they'll have some useful information on the enemy's position. The Guild has been itching for a real fight."

"Maybe they are now, but they won't be after the first skirmish." Bojohn interjected dryly.

"It's that bad huh? Well we'll just have to make the first battle count then!" Atlas' Guild leader replied cheerfully as Ayumi and two others rejoined the main party.

"Hin, we've found a large enemy force just on the other side of the river." Ayumi said with a bowed head.

"Are there any avenues across the river?" Wrottzen asked.

"Why should I tell you?" The Assassin shot back.

"Ayumi..." Hin shot his friend a disapproving look.

"Fine. There's only one clear way across the river and that's via a bridge that's just to the Northwest of here."

"So what's the plan here?" May asked. "Do we set up an ambush at the bridge?"

"Exactly right." Hin replied. "Controlling choke points like that are the key to nearly every battle. Ayumi, alert the rest of the guild. We'll be setting up camp here tonight and be marching toward that bridge at the break of dawn tomorrow."

"Of course Hin." The Assassin said before disappearing.

"If you three wouldn't mind accompanying me to my tent once camp is made, I'd like to discuss our battle plan and a few contingencies, just in case."

"We'll be there." Bojohn replied. "Now let's start prepping our weapons you two. The battle tomorrow isn't going to be easy."

"O-Of course." May replied. "I'll be ready."

Noticing the uneasiness in her tone, Wrottzen gave her a quick look before going to prepare his own equipment.

 **The Next Morning**

After a few hours of prep work with Hin, a strategy was formulated. Tanks would be placed across the width of the bridge with clerics close by to heal when needed. While the Guardians and Samurai's took the enemies aggro, mages and archers would be laying down fire to finish the enemy off.

Once the raid party was in position, Wrottzen opened a telepathic link with May and Bojohn. _We have a good strategy so you shouldn't have to worry, but if things do start to go wrong, find me and we'll regroup._

 _OK._ Was the immediate response from both the Druid and Swashbuckler.

It wasn't long before the enemy began approaching the bridge. No one moved as the enemy party marched one quarter of the way across the bridge.

Halfway across the bridge.

Three quarters across the bridge.

"Atlas! Commence attack!" Hin yelled before drawing his katana, the Fuyu no Tsuki, and jumping onto the bridge with the main line of tanks not far behind. He easily parried an attack from an enemy soldier before yelling "Mist Blade!" The next swing of the blade unleashed a blast of cold air onto the British in its path, both damaging them and slowing their movement speed. Knowing what was coming next, Hin quickly stepped backwards as the frontline Mages defeated the weakened enemy.

"Hin! Watch your six!" Ayumi cried stabbing another Redcoat.

Reversing the grip on his blade, Hin was able to stab the sneaky assailant before he could launch an attack.

"Thanks Ayumi!" Hin replied bringing his blade back around and taunting more enemies into combat.

 _So this is the power of a raid party..._ Wrottzen thought as he observed the battle from atop a nearby hill. Due to his slightly lower level as compared to the rest of the raid party, Wrottzen was relegated to defending against the normal roaming mobs.

"Impressive isn't it?" A nearby Monk chimed in. "That the synergy the guild had stills holds even now."

"Yeah very impressive." He replied as the Atlas forces continued to force the enemy back.

A half hour passed as British bodies began to pile on the bridge. With Hin leading the charge, Atlas forces had taken 75% of the bridge and were slowly continuing across the remainder of the walkway.

"It's been pretty quiet here hasn't it?" The Monk stated, pointing out the lack of enemies both he and the others had to face.

"You're right Benny." Wrottzen replied. "I wonder if the system somehow recognizes that we're fighting in an event and is lowering spawn rates..."

"That would be pretty amazing if it were true." Benny replied. "But I've never heard of something like that happ-"

The Monk's reply was abruptly cut off by a bayonet piercing his torso. As his dead body fell to the ground, his assailant was revealed to be a scout from the Northern nations he was already bringing his rifle up to attack another member of the small squad.

As the rifle fired Wrottzen allowed the shot to strike her large shield, protecting his allies and giving a nearby Mage an opportunity to cast Orb of Lava and defeat their sneaky assailant.

As the rush of combat slowly wore off, a Priestess spoke up nervously. "W-Was that a Soldier of the North? What is one doing so far behind the main line?"

"I don't know but we should probably report it ta Hin." The Mage Hailstone cut in.

 _No mob spawns, an enemy far behind enemy line..._ "We're being surrounded!" Wrottzen suddenly declared.

"That's impossible." Hailstone replied. "All of the enemy soldiers are down fighting on the bridge. When did we have an opportunity to get flanked?"

"I'm not sure but the river must be lower just up or downstream. They could have easily crossed there and prepared to flank us at the bridge." Wrottzen said pulling up a telepathic link with Hin. "Hin. We encountered an enemy scout at our rear. I think we're being surrounded."

"How could we possibly be surrounded?" Came Hin's reply. "This bridge is the only avenue across the river."

"And I'm simply telling you that we encountered an enemy scout all the way at the rear of our line. You can take that information and draw whatever conclusion you'd like."

"Dammit." The Samurai replied before yelling. "Tactical retreat everyone! We have more Redcoats coming in! Tanks start a slow backwards march. All lower level mages and low defense units should move to the rear of our formation. Ayumi you lead the way."

"Of course Hin." The Assassin replied gathering those mentioned and started to safety.

"Now!" Hin started with a smirk. "Just because we're retreating doesn't mean we can't give them Hell!"

Brandishing his katana, Hin once more leapt into the fray, providing a distraction to the retreating front line units. Ten minutes later the first of the British reinforcements began appearing on Atlas' side of the river, putting even greater pressure on the raid party's retreat.

"What's the status of our retreat?" Hin asked via telepathic link.

"Everyone barring you and the tanks with you have retreated to safety." Ayumi replied, now safely with Wrottzen, Bojohn and the others. "Break off contact and retreat!"

"I hate to say it but there are too many of them to just break off now." Atlas' leader replied. "There's no cover here. We'd be sitting ducks if we tried to make a break for it."

"What if we had some of the mages lay down cover fire for him?" May asked.

"If there were only Samurai's up there with Hin then that might work." Bojohn replied, "But with Guardians also still under fire, the small window cover fire could give won't do them any good."

"If you aren't going to break off the fighting, what are you going to do?" Ayumi asked Hin

"I'm going to send the remainder of the Tanks back to safety while I provide the cover they need."

"You mean-"

"A suicide run exactly." Came Hin's nonchalant reply.

"No No NO! I won't allow it!" Ayumi yelled back. "I'm not letting you do this alone. You'll die!"

Calm like before, Hin replied, "You're still thinking like this is the real world Ayumi. This isn't Earth. This is Elder Tale. I'll make my suicide run here, respawn and catch up to you all in a few days. Now get ready I'm having the others break in a couple of moments."

"We'll be ready."

"OK. Everyone fall back!" Hin yelled, stepping forward to attack the enemy. "This is my fight from here! Taunt!"

Soldiers of the North began to turn their attention toward the lone Samurai.

"Crescent Slash!" Bring his katana down and back upward in the shape of a crescent moon, Hin dealt heavy damage to anyone the blade touched.

"Stillwater!" Was launched immediately after his Crescent Slash, greatly slowing any enemy that make visual contact with his blade.

"Now. Fallen Moon!" Spinning in a circle, Hin's Fuyu no Tsuki began to emit waves of light which spread outward killing enemies clearing a diameter of 10 yards, almost as though a small moon had fallen around him.

"Hin everyone has been retrieved." Ayumi reported, while there was a break in the action. "Are you sure-"

"Then what are you waiting for?" The Guild leader replied, cutting her off. "Get out of here! I'll rejoin you all in a few days."

"Of course. Atlas, move out!"

As the Guild began their journey back to camp, everyone could still hear Hin fighting in the distance until everything went silent.

Back at the camp, the decision was made to wait for Hin to return before continuing Northward so the Guild waited 5 days for their leader to return. Yet even after a week of waiting, Hin still had not returned

 **AN: Hello everyone! Sorry for the (really) long wait for this chapter but I haven't abandoned it yet! After Chapter 10 I turned my focus to another fanfic I was working on which I thought (emphasis on thought) was close to completion. So long story short I burnt myself out working on that story but now I've decided to return to the world of Elder Tale and continue Adjustments for a while.** **Sorry again if some parts don't seem up to par. After so long way from these characters, it's hard to get back into the groove.**

 **Enough with the apologies! Hopefully you all still enjoyed the chapter. Feel free to leave a review with any thoughts and I will see you all next time.**


	12. Appointment

Nearly two weeks had past since the guild's defeat to the northern army. After securing the chokepoint, the Redcoats continued their offensive, pushing Atlas backwards. With the 'glory of war' shattered and the unexplained absence of Hin, morale lowered drastically.

To address these issues and the future of the raid party, a meeting was called between the interim head of Atlas, Ayumi, and her guests.

"We need to do something soon or we're going to have a mutiny on our hands!" Bojohn started. "Some of the troops are beginning to think this event isn't worth the trouble. They want to return to Hudson."

"They'll get their drive back once Hin gets here." Ayumi countered. "He'll know just what to do to bring everyone back in line."

"We can't rely on Hin to solve this problem." Wrottzen cut in. "Everyone else who died in that battle has returned to the frontline except for Hin."

"In Ayumi's defense Hin's respawn could just be taking longer." Bojohn suggested. "There is still a lot we don't know about this world."

"An extra hour maybe, heck I'd believe an extra day because of his high level but two weeks?" Wrottzen asked. "I find that a little hard to swallow."

"All right then. If you don't think he's respawning, what do you think happened to Hin?" Ayumi shot back angrily.

"Uhh..." The Guardian said as he tried to think of an answer. While it was true that Hin's high level or status as guild leader could have slowed his respawn time, something about that theory didn't seem right.

"What if he's been captured?"

All eyes turned to May, who had remained silent throughout most of the meeting.

"W-What? Isn't it a common battle strategy to try and capture enemies in battle?" She added, clearly a little flustered after gaining everyone's attention.

"Maybe in real life but not in Elder Tale." Ayumi replied, "The AI has never captured a player unit before."

"Maybe not, but things are changing." Wrottzen chimed in. "I think she's onto something."

"Really!" The Druid replied excitedly.

"Think about things from the enemies point of view. They are facing Adventurers they know have the ability to respawn." The Guardian explained. "The only possible way to permanently take a player out of the action would be to capture and hold the unit. Combine that with the fact Hin is the Guild Leader of Atlas, and you have a prime target for capture."

"It would explain why he hasn't respawned, because he hasn't been killed." Bojohn reasoned.

"Those monsters!" Ayumi exclaimed, as a dark aura surrounded her face. "I'll kill them all for this."

Ignoring Ayumi's sudden burst of killing intent, Bojohn continued, "If we think Hin has been captured, how do we get him back?"

"Probably by finishing this event." The red haired Guardian replied. "We'll have to continue to march north until we reach the final fortress."

"Fort Bifrost, right?" May chimed in.

"Correct." Ayumi replied, having recovered from her previous outburst. "It's modeled after Fort Ticonderoga, which played a pivotal role in the American Revolution."

"That's great and all but we're still weeks away from being anywhere near Fort Bifrost." Bojohn added dejectedly.

"Then we need to rally our troops and get there!" May said.

"Easier said then done." Wrottzen replied. "We've taken a serious beating since losing Hin and it's worn down our troops. We need to establish a new chain of command if we want any hope of reaching Fort Bifrost on our own.

"So basically we need a raid leader until we can rescue Hin." Bojohn simplified. "Ayumi, are you up for the job?"

"Yes and no. I am capable of doing it, but my leading might not have the effect you're aiming for."

"What do you mean?" May asked.

"I'm not exactly popular with a lot of guild members, especially the women. Threaten them once against taking your man and for whatever reason they hate you for life."

"Yeah. Imagine that..." Wrottzen replied dryly. "There has to be someone in the ranks who can take over. All they need is likability, the ability to inspire loyalty and sound tactical knowledge."

As he finished speaking, Wrottzen looked up to see the other three Adventurers looking at him expectantly.

"You want me to do it?!"

"You just described yourself to a tee. Of course you should do it!" May exclaimed.

"I'm not even a member of Atlas, these people barely know me."

"That means they haven't formed a negative opinion yet." Ayumi countered.

"I'm too low level, I'd never keep up with the frontline players."

"You won't have to. You've been working on a bow set. If you wield that, you can stay away from the frontlines, contribute to the attack and easily coordinate the troops." Bojohn countered.

"I bet we can even find a few archers who would be willing to loan equipment to help with the level gap." May added.

"But... But surely there is someone else qualified who is already an Atlas member." The Guardian stammered, beginning to cave.

"Even if there were, I wouldn't know." Ayumi replied, "The only person worth my time is Hin, who cares about these other losers."

"Fine, I'll do it." Wrottzen replied. "But I have a condition."

"And that would be?" The Assassin asked.

"I want May and Bojohn with me during each battle. Nothing is going to change the fact that I'm underleveled for this. I at least want people I trust nearby in case things go wrong. Is that acceptable?"

"I believe so." Ayumi replied. "The troops are yours to command."

"Thank you," Wrottzen replied. "If you three wouldn't mind gathering the troops, they should be notified of the change in command and our strategy going forward."

It didn't take long for the raid party to gather around the commander's tent for the impromptu meeting. Once everyone was gathered, the new raid leader stepped out to address the troops.

"Hello everyone, my name is Wrottzen. I am one of three guests of your guild on this expedition and let me begin my thanking you all for letting us join you." He started, trying to win over the Adventurers. "Many of you have probably noticed the absence of your guild leader Hin and I believe we can now provide an explanation. He has been taken captive by our enemy." The crowd responded with disbelief. "This is an unprecedented and unusual act but true all the same. In order to save Hin, we must complete this event and take Fort Bifrost. To accomplish this, your temporary guild leader Ayumi has named me raid leader until Hin is retrieved."

The crowd, which had been fairly cooperative, sudden went into an uproar, echoing all of Wrottzen's previous concerns.

"She's leading us?! She's not even an Atlas member!"

"Have you taken a look at her level? She won't last two seconds in actual combat."

One particularly loud voice pierced through the crowd. "Don't we get a say in this?" Stepping through the crowd, the voice was revealed to be the mage Hailstone, who had fought with Wrottzen during the last battle. "Shouldn't Atlas members decide who should lead this _Atlas_ raid party? Heck I could probably do a better job at leading than this inexperienced newbie."

A chant began resonating through the crowd, "Hail Hail Hailstone! Hail Hail Hailstone!"

"You're losing them!" Ayumi said, as the chant grew ever louder.

"Everyone please! Don't you trust the judgement of your guild leaders?"

"Maybe Hin's but her's," Came a reply from the audience referring to Ayumi.

"I said hello to Hin once and she threatened to scalp me." One girl added.

"I tried asking her out once and she nearly cut my junk off." Another man added.

"Even if you don't trust Ayumi's judgement, I'm telling you that you can trust mine and I'm willing to prove it." Wrottzen declared.

"Oh yeah? How do you plan to do that?" Hailstone asked.

"Allow me to lead you all in one battle to retake the chokepoint where we lost Hin. If we are victorious, then you should have no problem with my taking command and if we fail, I will open a general election to the entirety of the guild to choose a new leader. Is that acceptable?"

The statement was met with silence from the crowd as they could not find a flaw in the logic.

"I'll take that as a yes." The Guardian continued. "Now everyone prepare for battle! We'll be setting out in an hour!"

As the crowd dispersed, Bojohn approached his friend and said, "That's a pretty bold statement you made up their."

"I was losing the crowd. I had to do something."

"Well it worked, for now."

"I'm going to get a strategy ready for the battle. Get May and try to track down some archer gear for me will ya?"

"No prob man and good luck." The swashbuckler replied before running off.

 _Now... How can we retake the chokepoint?_

 **AN: Hello everyone, I have returned with a drive to write! The positive feedback on this story has been incredible even without my updating and I'd like to thank you all for that. This chapter would have been out Friday but I thought it was too short and wrote a little extra. I have since changed my mind but I can say that Chapter 13 is already in the works because of it. Happy reading and I hope you enjoy.**


	13. Lead from the Front or Rear?

With everyone's rushing to prepare for the upcoming battle, an hour raced by. Everyone was given orders and sent out into the field.

"Are you sure this was the best you could find?" Wrottzen asked as he Bojohn and May hiked toward the battleground.

"For the last time, yes that was the best archer equipment we could find." Bojohn replied, "And you're going to need the stat boosts they give if your plan is going to succeed."

Playing the role of an archer for the battle, Wrottzen had changed out of his usual armor into tight fitting black pants and a matching black bikini top.

"I know but these pants are just so tight. They leave nothing to the imagination, even mine. And can this even be considered a top, nothing is being covered!"

"If it's any consolation, you look amazing." May chimed in. "But I can't help but think something is missing..." Scrolling through her inventory, May pulled out a pink bow and began to tie her comrade's hair back into a ponytail. "Perfect! Now you'll be able to shoot on the run without your hair getting in the way."

In the short time available, Wrottzen had decided on a hit-and-run strategy. The raid party was split up into smaller groups and told to move individually toward the battlefield and defeat any isolated soldiers along the way.

"I see some Redcoats up ahead." May said, gesturing to a small group of 5 Redcoats. "Bojohn, do your thing."

"With pleasure." The swashbuckler charged forward and yelled "Whirlwind Slash!" The attack did a significant amount of damage to one enemy but was stopped on the rifle of a second unit.

May followed close behind with a Double Hit from her staff and yelled, "Stay on your toes Bojohn." As she finished off the soldier who caught the Swashbuckler's attack. "You're tanking for us this mission. You can't be as reckless as you usually are."

"Sorry!" He replied as he turned to block another Redcoat's attack.

As his two allies initiated the attack, Wrottzen pulled out his bow and prepared an attack of his own. "Ok. Notch the bow, pull back the string, aim and fire!" The arrow flew through the air and buried itself in the leg of one of the enemy soldiers and making him an easy target for Bojohn.

"Nice shot!" May praised.

"Thanks! I think we're starting to get the hang of this!"

In no time at all, the three fell into formation: Bojohn tanking, May healing and Wrottzen raining arrows down from afar. With the three of them working in sync, the small party of Redcoats was easily defeated.

"Not bad man." Bojohn said after the last enemy was dispatched. "You're a little lacking in the damage department though."

"Well I still do have a Guardian's stats." Wrottzen replied. "But don't worry. I have something up my sleeve to do some real damage when the battle starts."

Other than that, the trip back to the chokepoint was relatively uneventful. It wasn't long before the trio found a good vantage point and waited on the rest of the party to arrive.

Opening the telepathic link, Wrottzen addressed the troops, "Is everyone in position?"

"Yes." Came the immediately reply from most of the teams.

"We're ready, but we lost a couple of men along the way." Was the reply from the final team.

"All right! Let's get this started." The red-haired Guardian declared. "Ayumi! Lead the first strafe."

"Right!" The Assassin replied before leading a small team of fast moving Adventurers to provoke the Redcoats guarding the bridge. Once provoked the enemy soldiers were lured away from their post toward one of the many small teams waiting in the wings to finish them off in one fell swoop.

"If you can't win on their battlefield, bring them to your's." Wrottzen declared, summing up his strategy. "Team 2, start the next strafe! We don't have long before their reinforcements strike our rear."

Soon the bridge was swarming with Redcoats, who were dealing with the same dilemma Atlas had in the previous battle. With only a few soldiers able to attack at a single time as compared to the entirety of the Atlas raid party, it was hard to even get close enough to strike. However the Redcoats superior numbers soon came into play. There were enough soldiers to stall the raid party so that their reinforcements could strike from behind, just like last time.

"We're starting to get hit from the rear!" One of the many teams cried as the battle raged on.

"All teams get ready for enemy reinforcements form behind!" Wrottzen announced. "Keep up the pressure on the bridge and switch the bare minimum of personnel to cover your back."

"I hope there's more to your plan then that." Ayumi replied via the telepathic link. "A lot of teams are starting to run low on MP and its taking everything we have here to keep the Redcoats at bay from the bridge. We don't have enough DPS (Damage per Second)."

"I have the DPS covered and we'll figure out a way to get you and the other teams additional support."

"You better." Ayumi replied before signing off of the link.

"What's the play?" Bojohn asked.

"What do you want us to do?" May asked.

 _Originally I was going to keep the three of us together, especially since I'm not fighting as a Guardian, but it looks like I have no choice._ "Bojohn scout the perimeter and keep as many Redcoats off our rear as you can!" Wrottzen said. "May, I'll need you to make rounds to all of the teams and restore MP and HP. Can you both handle that?"

"Easily." Bojohn replied quickly "But are you going to be able to handle yourself without backup? What if a Redcoat slips by and gets to you?"

"I'll deal with it." The Guardian turned Archer replied, "This is the only way we can make this operation a success. If it means playing things a little risky then so be it. Besides I have these." Wrottzen pulled out a set of arrows from his inventory. "These are laced with poison I made with my alchemy skill. It'll give us the DPS we need and, with an accurate close range shot, should be plenty to take out any roaming Redcoats."

"All right then." The Swashbuckler replied, before setting off into the woods.

May hestiated a moment and said, "If you're in trouble just call and we'll come running." Before heading out herself.

Taking aim at the chokepoint, Wrottzen began raining poison arrows down on the enemy.

"Ayumi, the next wave should be weakened so it will be easier to keep the pressure up. I have Bojohn running interference to cover our rear and May coming to heal the front lines. Think that will be enough?"

"It'll have to be." The Assassin replied curtly.

As the battle raged on, although it was clear the Atlas raid party was more powerful, the enemies numbers were simply overwhelming.

"Our endurance is shot. We need to pull back!" Hailstone said over the telepathic link.

"They just keep getting closer." May said, getting nervous. "Do you have any more tricks up your sleeve Wrottzen?"

"I wish I did." Was his reply. "Bojohn, what's your status?"

"They're starting to thin out back here. But I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving the rear undefended."

 _Crap. What do I do? There are just too many of them. I'm running out of poison arrows and I can't even use any skills to boost my damage output since I'm primarily a Guradian._

"They've broken through!" Came a yell from the telepathic link.

"We can't escape!" Another person yelled.

"Man down. Man down!"

 _Commanding from afar and striking from the shadows isn't working._ Wrottzen thought, finally coming to a decision. "Everyone scatter and stay alive for 30 seconds. Reinforcements are coming!"

Equipping his sword and shield, Wrottzen charged for the battlefield. "May, I'm going to need a defense buff."

"Can do. Forest's Blessing!" Was the Druid's reply as the buff took effect.

"Everyone get ready to attack." The Guardian cried as he reached the frontlines. "Anchor Howl!" The Redcoats in the immediate vicinity began rushing toward Wrottzen, still clad in the Archer equipment.

"Is you crazy?!" Hailstone cried. "At your level these Redcoats are difficult for you with equipment and you mean to fight them without it?"

"Regroup and attack now!" Came the reply. "Castle of Stone!"

"We've got ten seconds! Make it count people." Ayumi yelled while chugging a potion. "Don't hold anything back! Maria the Ripper!" Her blade cloaked in a green light, the Assassin began darting around the battlefield, dealing damage to anyone she passed by.

"Double Hit! Centripetal Force!" May cried as she and other Adventurers joined the fray as well.

 _It isn't going to be enough!_ Wrottzen thought as the tenth second neared. _What can I-_

"Blizzard!" Large chunks of ice and snow began flying toward the Redcoats, defeating many and blowing the rest backwards. Looking over, the caster proved to be Hailstone.

"Hey, just 'cause I want to lead doesn't mean I'm gonna sabotage your mission."

"Thanks." Wrottzen replied as Castle of Stone's effect ended. "Keep pushing forward everyone! We have them on the ropes!"

The ten second reprieve provided by Castle of Stone and the morale boost provided by Wrottzen joining the frontlines proved to be enough to turn the tide of battle. It wasn't long before the remainder of the Redcoats were defeated and the raid party was celebrating on the opposite side of the river.

"We did it!" Wrottzen yelled as he and the rest of the raid party jumped into the air with their fists raised. "Everyone did a great job out there. Despite the setbacks-"

"Umm Wrottzen?" May said softly.

"Not now May. I'm addressing the troops." The Guardian replied before continuing. "Despite the setbacks we functioned well as a unit. I'm glad-"

"It's sort of important." May interrupted again.

"I'm almost finished." Wrottzen replied, finishing his speech with, "I'm glad you trusted my command and I hope we will all continue to grow together in the upcoming battles. Thank you." Turning to May he asked, "What was so important that you had to interrupt my speech?"

"I thought you might like to know your top came off when you did the victory jump.."

With a face quickly turning red from embarrassment, Wrottzen covered his chest and turned around to see more than half of the raid party with blank expressions and nosebleeds, not having heard a single word.

 **AN: Hello everyone and sorry for the delay. I had wanted to get this chapter out for Christmas but literally the day after I posted chapter 12, I got blindsided by some personal problems which have tied up nearly all of my time. Hopefully you all had a wonderful New Year and enjoy this chapter regardless of the wait. I'll get the next one out as soon as I can. Happy Reading!**


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